[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Hyundai Engineering and Hanwha Solutions will invest 600 billion KRW to establish new production facilities in Chungnam.
According to Chungnam Province on the 1st, Hyundai Engineering will invest 400 billion KRW from early next year until June 2025 to build a hydrogen production plant on a 96,167㎡ site in the Dangjin Songsan 2 General Industrial Complex.
This plant will be established as a facility that produces hydrogen using recycled plastics. The main process involves pyrolyzing pretreated plastic raw materials to produce synthesis gas, capturing and removing the carbon dioxide generated during this process, and then refining and producing high-purity hydrogen.
Hyundai Engineering plans to produce 22,000 tons of hydrogen annually from 100,000 tons of recycled plastics at the Dangjin plant (enough to fuel 150,000 hydrogen vehicles). The produced hydrogen will be supplied for industrial uses such as fuel cell power generation and for hydrogen vehicle refueling.
Hanwha Solutions will construct a core material production plant for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels on a 45,766㎡ site in the Asan Tangjeong Techno General Industrial Complex by the end of next year.
The budget for the new plant is 201.7 billion KRW, and the materials produced here will be used to deposit the three primary colors?red, green, and blue?onto subpixels during the OLED display manufacturing process.
Along with the construction of new plants, Hyundai Engineering and Hanwha Solutions plan to cooperate in fostering a family-friendly corporate culture, prioritizing local workforce hiring, and promoting the consumption of locally produced agricultural, fishery, and livestock products to support sustainable development in Chungnam.
Additionally, the province, Dangjin City, and Asan City will provide administrative and financial support to ensure that each company’s investment proceeds as planned.
The province expects that if the corporate investments proceed successfully, economic effects such as an annual production value of 865.8 billion KRW and added value of 172.5 billion KRW will be generated in Dangjin and Asan.
In particular, the province anticipates that once Hyundai Engineering’s plant is fully operational, it will significantly contribute to resource circulation and the realization of carbon neutrality.
Kim Tae-heum, Governor of Chungnam Province, stated, “Chungnam will spare no support to ensure that Hyundai Engineering and Hanwha Solutions successfully complete their investments.”
Meanwhile, Hyundai Engineering, established in 1974, has expanded its business areas to include chemical and power plants, architecture, infrastructure, asset management, and eco-friendly green energy, becoming one of the leading comprehensive construction companies in Korea. As of last year, the company employed 6,138 people and reported sales of 7.3551 trillion KRW.
Hanwha Solutions was established in 2020 by integrating Hanwha Chemical and Hanwha Q CELLS & Advanced Materials. The company currently focuses on renewable energy businesses such as solar power and chemical businesses. As of last year, it employed 6,759 people domestically and reported sales of 10.7252 trillion KRW.
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