Korea H2 Business Summit: Major Companies Gather to Revitalize Hydrogen Economy

After two years, heads of major domestic companies gathered again to revitalize the hydrogen economy. There were many concerns that the hydrogen economy strategy, which had been driven during the Moon Jae-in administration, was fading after the Yoon Seok-yeol administration changed. The ‘Korea H2 Business Summit’ (hereafter H2 Summit), a hydrogen council consisting of CEOs of major domestic companies, was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul on the 14th. Participants at this event said, “Although hydrogen is an indispensable alternative to carbon reduction, Korea is at a disadvantage in terms of hydrogen supply conditions and the speed and scale of the hydrogen economy transformation.” They also set out their ambitions to achieve more than 10% of the total carbon emission reduction in 2030 and 25% of the total carbon emission reduction in 2050 through hydrogen. In addition, the government plans to actively deliver opinions from the industry to the government to strengthen cooperation between groups so that hydrogen policies can be implemented with a sense of speed, and to operate a consultative body on priority tasks of the domestic hydrogen economy, such as a hydrogen utilization consultative body for industrial processes and a hydrogen utilization consultative body for transportation. collected Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, SK Group Senior Vice Chairman Choi Jae-won, POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, GS Group CEO Huh Sae-hong, HD Hyundai President Jung Ki-sun, Hyosung Vice President Cho Hyun-sang, Sae-A Group Chairman Lee Soon-hyung, and Samsung Group Lee Byeong-soo The vice president of the construction division of Mulsan attended the meeting. Chairman Eui-sun Eui-sun said, “Hyundai Motor Group supports the hydrogen transition and is pursuing a mid- to long-term project to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 at the group level.” Senior Vice Chairman Choi Jae-won emphasized, “Hydrogen is an essential energy source, but infrastructure is lacking.” It is the first time in about two years since the launch of the H2 Summit that total supply-level personnel have gathered in one place with hydrogen as the topic. In September 2021, the summit was launched led by three Hyundai Motor, SK, and POSCO groups. Initially, it was planned to hold a general meeting once a year, but last year it was skipped. Currently, 17 members are participating. Reporter Koh Han-sol sol@hani.co.kr