Following the announcement of ‘Hydrogen Economy Vitalization Roadmap’ in January 2019, Republic of Korea enacted the world’s first ‘Hydrogen Law’ in February 2020, launched the ‘Hydrogen Economic Committee’ in July 2020, and increased its R&D budget from KRW 85.5 billion in 2019 to KRW 240 billion in 2021 to build an institutional foundation for promote the country's hydrogen economy.
According to Seoul's ‘1st hydrogen economy implementation basic plan’, published in November 2021, hydrogen as a single energy source is expected to account for 33% of final energy consumption by 2050, replacing the oil energy (49.3%, as of 2020). As hydrogen produced overseas is expected to account for the majority, it is important to build hydrogen energy infrastructure such as energy loading/unloading and storage facilities. The plan also urged to establish safety standards for the use of hydrogen in ships frequently used to transport and load/unload the gas.
Accordingly, KR is developing technologies for hydrogen transportation and safely securing hydrogen fueled ships with related institutions. Through the development of related system Generic Model, risk assessment, and safety standards development, KR supports the development and operation of hydrogen ships required by the industry. The safety technology for hydrogen ship-related bunkering and loading/unloading, storage containers and fuel supply systems, integrated control systems, and the hydrogen industry will enable Korea to gain an upper hand in the global hydrogen market.