Hyundai Construction Completes Basic Design for 'Water Electrolysis-Based Hydrogen Production Base' in Buan, Jeonbuk

High-Purity Hydrogen Production Exceeding 1 Ton Per Day
Securing Independent Design Capability for Hydrogen Plants

Hyundai Engineering & Construction announced on the 7th that it has completed the basic design of the water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base in Buan, Jeonbuk.

Exterior view of Hyundai Construction Gyedong Headquarters. [Photo by Hyundai Construction]

The water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base is a plant that produces hydrogen by electrolyzing water using electricity and can store and transport it. Hyundai Engineering & Construction is carrying out the construction project of this base within the Jeonbuk Buan Renewable Energy Theme Park in collaboration with Jeollabuk-do, Buan-gun, and others through a national project led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy last year.

This is the first water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base in Korea, the largest scale for commercial use domestically, consisting of a water electrolysis facility with a capacity of 2.5 MW that produces more than 1 ton of hydrogen per day and a shipping facility that compresses hydrogen to 250 bar for shipment. The produced hydrogen will be supplied to nearby hydrogen refueling stations and used for hydrogen mobility.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction, responsible for the overall design (basic and detailed design), equipment procurement, and construction in this project, has deployed specialized personnel dedicated to hydrogen plants and secured independent design capabilities.

To produce 99.9% high-purity hydrogen, the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) method was proposed and adopted, and a redundant system was applied to ensure operation does not stop even in emergencies.

Currently, detailed design and safety management plans, along with permit procedures, are underway. The detailed design will be completed by the end of this year, the plant will be constructed in 2024, and full-scale clean hydrogen production is planned to begin in May 2025.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction has secured outstanding design competitiveness in the basic design field of hydrogen plants, having won the ‘Boryeong Clean Hydrogen Project FEED Design’ in October last year and the ‘Jeju 12.5 MW Green Hydrogen Demonstration Plant Conceptual Design’ in August this year. Based on this, Hyundai Engineering & Construction plans to actively participate not only in GW-scale large-capacity water electrolysis hydrogen plants but also in clean hydrogen plants utilizing nuclear power.

A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official stated, “Hyundai Engineering & Construction is actively participating in various research projects and businesses in the energy sector, including clean energy hydrogen, small modular reactors, CCUS, and biogas, as well as continuously investing in securing specialized technical personnel and modernizing research facilities for research and development. Based on the data obtained from carrying out this water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base project, we will strengthen our capabilities to lead the global market in the hydrogen plant sector.”