South Jeolla Province has taken step one toward growing into a worldwide center of the clean hydrogen economy.
At the first Jeonnam Clean Hydrogen International Forum held at Seonghwang Sports Center in Gwangyang on the 4th, domestic and foreign experts and key local figures gathered to debate ways to develop Jeonnam’s hydrogen industry with the goal of carbon neutrality and energy conversion.
This forum was co-hosted for the primary time by Jeonnam Province and the Yeosu, Suncheon, and Gwangyang Administrative Councils, and was hosted by Gwangyang City and the Green Energy Research Institute.
This forum was attended by major figures including South Jeolla Province Governor Kim Young-rok, Gwangyang Mayor Jeong In-hwa, and Yeosu Mayor Jeong Ki-myeong, in addition to officials from energy firms, research institutes, academia, and about 300 local residents.
It began with a keynote speech by Energy Valley Forum Chairman Moon Jae-do on the outlook for domestic hydrogen policy under the theme of ‘A future opened by hydrogen, Jeonnam, the energy capital.’
On the forum, Angelo Moreno, director of Italy’s H2IT, and researcher Yosuke Fujii of Japan’s NEDO presented hydrogen policies and cooperation plans between Europe and Japan.
Within the panel discussion, Professor Jonghee Han of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology chaired the discussion and discussed Jeonnam’s future vision for clean hydrogen.
Establishing a carbon-neutral foundation by establishing a clean hydrogen pipeline network within the Gwangyang Bay area
Together with the forum, a business agreement was also signed to construct a clean hydrogen pipeline network connecting Yeosu and Gwangyang.
This agreement, through which 16 organizations, including Jeonnam Province, Yeosu, Suncheon, Gwangyang, Yeosu Industrial Complex firms, and Korea South-East, East-West, and Western Power, participated, was promoted with the goal of realizing carbon neutrality within the Gwangyang Bay area and fostering the clean hydrogen industry.
Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok said, “We’ll convert the national industrial complex within the Gwangyang Bay area right into a green industrial complex and create a clean hydrogen production complex in reference to the offshore wind power complex to make Jeonnam a number one region in the availability of unpolluted hydrogen.”
He then mentioned Jeonnam Province’s participation within the Energy Week event held in Austria last October and its membership within the World Cities Alliance, a global climate change network, and emphasized its efforts to guide the worldwide energy market and its will to strengthen cooperation with local governments.
The Jeonnam Clean Hydrogen International Forum is scheduled to begin in Gwangyang this yr, and proceed to Suncheon in 2025 and Yeosu in 2026.
Reporter Yang Jun-seok kailas21@aitimes.com
