The Korean government, shipbuilding industry and academic institutions have joined forces to develop a liquefied hydrogen carrier and secure an advantage in the future of shipbuilding technology, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced Friday.
To design and build a large-scale vessel capable of transporting hydrogen fuel, a new consortium was launched on the day at Bexco convention center in Busan. The ministry will provide 55.5 billion won ($39.6 million) in funding for the project.
The consortium comprises the ministry and Korea’s major shipbuilders — HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries — as well as academic societies specializing in hydrogen and shipbuilding technology.
Although a smaller-scale hydrogen carrier with a 1,250 cubic meter tank has been developed in Japan, no country has yet succeeded in building a large-scale vessel capable of transporting liquefied hydrogen.
Hydrogen is widely viewed as a key carbon-neutral energy source for the future, though it poses significant technical challenges, especially in maintaining its liquefied state.
Liquefied hydrogen must be stored at an extremely low temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius, compared to minus 163 C for liquefied natural gas.
While Korean shipbuilders maintain a competitive edge in LNG carrier technology, largely due to the complexity of advanced insulation systems, the successful development of hydrogen transport is expected to further widen the gap between Korea and other countries’ shipbuilding sectors, according to the ministry.
The consortium aims to consolidate and coordinate 43 separate hydrogen-related research and development projects involving 101 entities nationwide. By integrating efforts that have so far been carried out independently, the group seeks to develop a prototype of the world’s largest liquefied hydrogen carrier by 2027.
The initiative will also focus on building a comprehensive supply ecosystem to support hydrogen shipping.
"Liquefied hydrogen carriers come with high initial business risks due to their technological demands. That is why government leadership is essential in advancing this new core sector for Korea’s shipbuilding industry,” said an official from the Industry Ministry.
“We will improve relevant regulations and institutions to ensure that homegrown technologies become global standards, and continue our active support to realize a large-scale hydrogen carrier as soon as possible.”
forestjs@heraldcorp.com
