Pohang City Takes First Step Toward Successful Establishment of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cluster

Launch Ceremony of the 'Corporate Council' Leading the Hydrogen Economy
Mayor Lee Kang-deok: "We Will Unite Efforts for Specialized Hydrogen Economy Growth"

On the 15th, Pohang City held the launch ceremony of the ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cluster Corporate Council,’ composed of companies moving into the hydrogen fuel cell cluster and companies using testing and evaluation equipment, marking the beginning of its full-scale activities.

Pohang City Hall.

The launch ceremony held at Pohang Technopark was attended by Mayor Lee Kang-deok, City Council Chairman Baek In-gyu, 30 member companies including Doosan Fuel Cell, SK Ecoplant, and Haps, as well as Kim Hak-hong, Deputy Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, Ahn Jong-deuk, Head of the Hydrogen Energy Division at the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation Institute, Park Yong-seon, Vice Chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, and representatives from the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation’s Gyeongbuk Regional Headquarters and Pohang Branch.

At the ceremony, Shin Kyung-jong, Head of the Hydrogen Cluster Promotion Team at Pohang Technopark, presented the current status and promotion plans of the hydrogen fuel cell cluster construction project, which is the top concern of member companies, and disclosed the expected move-in schedule and the list of equipment to be installed.

Subsequently, five companies including Haps, Energy & Fuel, and FCI, which were the first to express their intention to move into the cluster, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pohang City and Gyeongbuk Province to invest 115 billion KRW on a 40,984㎡ site, aiming to create approximately 600 jobs.

With this MOU, the city has taken the first step toward the successful establishment of the hydrogen fuel cell cluster and expects to accelerate efforts to attract a hydrogen-specialized complex, which requires promising areas for corporate agglomeration.

The event concluded with a communication meeting to listen to companies’ suggestions regarding the operation of the hydrogen fuel cell cluster and the council, and it was agreed to convene the first extraordinary general meeting soon to finalize the articles of association (draft) and elect the executive committee.

The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cluster Corporate Council consists of companies scheduled to move into the Pohang hydrogen economy-leading cluster, companies using component and material performance evaluation equipment within the cluster, and companies demonstrating fuel cell prototypes at the fuel cell demonstration core testbed.

The council aims to propose government policies for the development of the hydrogen industry, a new industrial field, and to discover joint national projects, thereby creating a co-growth network between leading hydrogen companies and small and medium-sized component and material companies.

As founding members, 30 companies including leading fuel cell companies such as Doosan Fuel Cell, Mico Power, Haps, and FCI, as well as related small and medium enterprises, have joined, with plans to continuously expand membership.

Going forward, the council plans to hold regular or ad hoc general meetings according to its own operation plan to discuss policies for revitalizing the regional hydrogen industry, such as joint technology development in the fuel cell field and discovering financial support measures for small and medium-sized core component companies.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, “We will actively reflect the opinions of council member companies to establish a Pohang-specialized hydrogen economy growth model,” and added, “We will actively support local companies to lead not only Pohang but also the domestic and global markets as the main players driving Pohang’s hydrogen economy.”

Pohang City is implementing projects such as the preliminary hydrogen specialized company nurturing support project, activation support for the hydrogen fuel cell certification center, and projects to strengthen the competitiveness of the hydrogen fuel cell industry to foster hydrogen specialized companies in the region. In addition, it is preparing technology development and commercialization support measures exclusively for council member companies.