Green Hydrogen Pilot Model, credit: Enapter

Energy technology firm Enapter, together with partner YEST, will deliver two AEM electrolysers with a total capacity of 2MW for a hydrogen pilot project on South Korea’s Jeju Island.

The 12.5MW demonstration project will investigate and compare hydrogen production with different electrolysis technologies and is expected to produce more than 1,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.

With the help of YEST, Enapter will install its unique AEM Multicore electrolyser, which can supply around 450kg of green hydrogen per day. By using several units in parallel, production can be expanded on an industrial scale.

Enapter multicore AEM electrolyser. Credit Enapter

Sebastian-Justus Schmidt, CEO of Enapter: “Korea is one of the world’s leading countries in the field of green hydrogen. We are all the more pleased to expand our partnership with YEST and intensify our cooperation. This joint project is a building block on the global path to carbon neutrality.”

Jang Dong-bok, CEO of YEST: “We want to further improve the competitiveness of green hydrogen and leverage synergies. The Korean government’s initiatives provide us with a very good foundation for this.”

The South Korean Ministry of Industry and Trade (Motie) has provided financial support for the pilot to the value of ?62 billion ($43.3 million).

South Korea’s hydrogen hopes

The country plans to source a third of its energy from hydrogen by 2050, making the gas the largest single source of energy nationally.

The South Korean government launched plans to rapidly develop the nation’s hydrogen capabilities. Its Hydrogen Economy Roadmap of Korea aims to grow domestic annual consumption from 130,000 tons in 2018 to almost 5.3 million tons by 2040.

During FY2021, spending on hydrogen projects by the South Korean government totalled almost $702 million, with a further $2.3 billion committed to establishing a public-private hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicle market.