Sejong, May 9 - On April 27, the Ministry of Environment (Minister Han Wha-jin) announced South Korea's largest hydrogen refueling station and a facility for capturing and utilizing carbon dioxide that is produced during hydrogen production were completed in Changwon, Korea. 

A carbon dioxide capturing and utilization facility has been constructed at the 'Seongju Hydrogen Refueling Station' in Changwon's hydrogen energy test site. The Ministry of Environment provided KRW 1.5 billion in government subsidies between 2021 and 2022 for the facility's construction with Changwon-si.

The Seongju Hydrogen Refueling Station is able to charge cars with hydrogen produced from natural gas and water. However, during production, the methane component of natural gas generates carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The Ministry of Environment and the city of Changwon built a facility to produce blue hydrogen1 by capturing the carbon dioxide emitted during production and converting it into useful substances. It marks the first time such a facility has been built in Korea.

The city of Changwon plans to use collected carbon dioxide as a flocculation aid in treating suspended solids in raw water at a water filtration plant. This process neutralizes carbon dioxide and doesn't release greenhouse gases, which helps with carbon neutrality. The Ministry is piloting this facility to see how effectively it reduces GHG emissions. Based on the results, it is considering expanding to hydrogen refueling stations that use natural gas to produce hydrogen.

A ceremony was held on the same day to celebrate the completion of the KOHYHEN Changwon Seongju Hydrogen Refueling Station, the largest hydrogen refueling station for commercial vehicles in Korea. The station can charge up to 300kg per hour and is situated in a bus depot that accommodates 300 city buses daily. This location provides an excellent opportunity to encourage the widespread use of hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles while promoting stable hydrogen bus conversion policies in Changwon.

Changwon-si plans to add over 40 new hydrogen buses and trucks this year to the 44 already in use.

Vice Minister of Environment, Yoo Je-chul, said, "We are taking steps towards achieving carbon neutrality with blue hydrogen, which captures and utilize carbon dioxide from grey hydrogen made by reforming natural gas, a fossil fuel." He added, "To support the spread of commercial hydrogen vehicles, clean hydrogen produced by blue hydrogenation facilities will be used in hydrogen refueling stations. The Ministry will also work with local governments and companies to expand large-capacity hydrogen refueling stations to reduce fine dust and greenhouse gas emissions."

1 The hydrogen produced through a process that minimizes GHG emissions by capturing and utilizing carbon generated during the production of natural gas-based hydrogen (grey hydrogen)

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