CEO Hydrogen Council 'H2 Business Summit' 2nd General Meeting
Commitment to Key Contributions for Achieving Hydrogen-Based Carbon Neutrality
Hydrogen Share in Total Carbon Emission Reduction
Targeting 10% by 2030 and 25% by 2050
The 'Korea H2 Business Summit (H2 Summit),' a hydrogen-themed cooperation platform for corporate CEOs, held its second general meeting two years after its launch in 2021. The participants shared the view that it is a critical time to communicate companies' steady and continuous investment intentions in hydrogen businesses and to reignite the vitality of Korea's hydrogen industry.
On the 14th, company representatives attending the 'Korea H2 Business Summit' held at the Hyatt Hotel in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, are taking a commemorative photo after concluding their meeting. From the left, Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang of Hyosung Group, CEO Heo Se-hong of GS Caltex, Chairman Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group (eighth from the left), Senior Vice Chairman Choi Jae-won of SK Group, Chairman Choi Jung-woo of POSCO Group, President Jung Ki-sun of HD Hyundai, and President Lee Kyu-ho of Kolon Mobility Group. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the 14th, the H2 Summit held its 2nd general meeting at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul, attended by top executives from 17 member companies, and announced the 'Summit Initiative for Leading the Global Hydrogen Economy.' The event was attended by key corporate executives including Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group; Choi Jae-won, Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group; Choi Jeong-woo, Chairman of POSCO Group; Heo Se-hong, CEO of GS Caltex; Chung Ki-sun, President of HD Hyundai; Cho Hyun-sang, Vice Chairman of Hyosung Group; and Lee Kyu-ho, President of Kolon Group, among others.
Hyundai Motor's Chung Euisun: "Hydrogen is an investment for future generations" SK's Choi Jae-won: "Lack of infrastructure such as charging stations... Let's take the lead" POSCO's Choi Jeong-woo: "Government support needed for ammonia pipelines, etc."
At the meeting, Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, stated, "Hyundai Motor Group supports the great transition to a hydrogen society and is pursuing a mid- to long-term business plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 at the group level," adding, "Starting this year, we plan to operate liquefied hydrogen charging stations in cooperation with SK alongside the production of liquefied hydrogen."
Chairman Chung also clearly expressed the goal of producing 'green hydrogen' (hydrogen produced using renewable energy) alongside hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. He said, "This year, we plan to unveil a hydrogen tractor in North America and launch a successor to the Nexo in 2025," adding, "We intend to establish a logistics system to collect food waste and produce and supply clean hydrogen from food waste, thereby expanding hydrogen charging infrastructure and promoting an eco-friendly resource circulation structure."
He further stated, "Since this is an investment for future generations rather than short-term results, we will continue to promote investments with member companies."
Choi Jae-won, Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group, said, "In the carbon-neutral era, hydrogen is an essential energy source with increasing demand, but infrastructure is not keeping pace," adding, "To move from blue hydrogen (hydrogen produced using carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology) to green hydrogen, it must be treated as a national task rather than an individual company’s responsibility." He continued, "From an infrastructure perspective, I think it would be good if 'we (H2 Summit member companies)' take the lead in investing," adding, "I believe there is a need to increase hydrogen charging stations."
Choi Jeong-woo, Chairman of POSCO Group, emphasized, "To revitalize the domestic hydrogen ecosystem, cooperation among H2 Summit member companies and collaboration with the government based on this are very important," adding, "It is also necessary to secure government policy support such as building hydrogen and ammonia pipelines for domestic distribution."
Chung Ki-sun, President of HD Hyundai, said, "HD Hyundai is striving to create a hydrogen value chain from the sea," adding, "We are working on producing eco-friendly electricity through offshore wind power or SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) and developing technology to produce green hydrogen using this electricity and apply it to large vessels." He continued, "Hydrogen business is difficult for individual companies to undertake," and said, "I believe the day is not far off when we will develop a hydrogen transportation value chain together with member companies."
Cho Hyun-sang, Vice Chairman of Hyosung, stated before the general meeting, "Hyosung Group has been expanding the sustainable energy market base since 2000 through CNG charging business, LNG, and hydrogen charging stations, and has built the most hydrogen charging stations in Korea," adding, "We are accelerating the completion of the liquefied hydrogen plant under construction in Ulsan and plan to establish liquefied hydrogen charging stations operated directly nationwide in the future."
On the 14th, the 'Korea H2 Business Summit' was held at the Hyatt Hotel in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, attended by Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Choi Jae-won, Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group, among others. [Image source=Yonhap News]
H2 Summit: "Hydrogen will achieve more than 25% of total carbon emission reductions by 2050"
At the 2nd general meeting, the 17 member companies announced the 'Summit Initiative for Leading the Global Hydrogen Economy,' which actively supports business promotion and investment intentions in the hydrogen industry.
First, the H2 Summit set a goal to achieve more than 10% of total carbon emission reductions by 2030 and more than 25% by 2050 through hydrogen. They also agreed on the importance of not only creating various business collaboration opportunities among member companies but also strengthening the function of the global hydrogen cooperation platform aimed at generating global investment and domestic and international collaboration opportunities.
Finally, they pledged to strive to create a more effective hydrogen industry ecosystem by strengthening an organic cooperation system with government hydrogen policies.
Currently, the global hydrogen industry is rapidly solidifying a competitive structure centered on major countries and leading companies such as the United States and Europe. Accordingly, there is a need to urge a speedy transition of the domestic hydrogen economy led by H2 Summit member companies and to reaffirm the bold intention of leading companies to achieve significant hydrogen business results both domestically and internationally.
In particular, in the policy cooperation area, they agreed to actively convey the consolidated opinions of the industry to the government when establishing hydrogen policies to ensure that government policies are implemented swiftly in the field. In the business cooperation area, they announced support for forming business consultative bodies on key hydrogen industry topics to resolve common issues among business entities.
Accordingly, consultative bodies will be operated in areas that the domestic hydrogen economy must address first, such as ▲E-methanol consultative body ▲hydrogen use for industrial processes consultative body ▲hydrogen use for transportation consultative body ▲global hydrogen standards and certification system consultative body, which is expected to accelerate practical cooperation.
Moreover, they gathered opinions to discover opportunities for securing global technology and to strengthen cooperation and solidarity systems with overseas hydrogen consultative bodies. In the investment cooperation area, they plan to strengthen recruitment activities for additional member companies and financial investors (FIs) to successfully complete hydrogen fund subscriptions within this year. They also plan to launch hydrogen funds by value chain and region, promote investment cooperation with overseas global funds, and accelerate efforts to expand fund size and enhance fund management quality.
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