Korea Zinc announced on the 28th that it held a completion ceremony for a hydrogen refueling station for hydrogen forklifts at the Onsan Smelter in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The event was attended by many key figures from the government, local governments, industry, and academia, including Choi Nam-ho, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Kim Doo-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan Metropolitan City, and Lee Soon-geol, County Governor of Ulju. They celebrated the completion of the first hydrogen refueling station for hydrogen forklifts within a national industrial complex in Korea.
In 2022, Korea Zinc was selected as the target company for the national research and development project led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy titled "Development Plan for Demonstration-Based Reliability Verification Technology for Commercialization of Hydrogen Forklifts." Going forward, Korea Zinc will proceed with the installation of hydrogen storage and refueling facilities within the Onsan Smelter and begin full-scale demonstration of hydrogen forklift operations. This project is being promoted under the supervision of the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation Institute, with Korea Zinc collaborating with the Construction Machinery Parts Research Institute, Seoul National University, Chosun University, and the Korea Hydrogen Union.
The ultimate goal of this project is to successfully complete the operation of the hydrogen refueling station and the demonstration of hydrogen forklifts under 5 tons, thereby laying the foundation for future expanded distribution. The detailed objectives include ▲introducing 30 hydrogen forklifts and demonstrating them in the smelter environment ▲selecting 10 key components and developing reliability verification technology, and securing public acceptance.
The hydrogen refueling station installed at Plant 1 of Korea Zinc’s Onsan Smelter is an off-site refueling station that supplies hydrogen produced externally through a pipeline network to hydrogen forklifts. It has passed the completion inspection conducted by the Korea Gas Safety Corporation on hydrogen refueling facilities and technologies.
The hydrogen forklifts used in the pilot operation are forklifts equipped with Hyundai Motor Company's hydrogen fuel cells, manufactured by Hyundai Site Solutions and Doosan Bobcat. Their most significant feature is zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Considering that conventional diesel forklifts emit an average of 80 kg of CO2 per day, operating 30 hydrogen forklifts at the Onsan Smelter results in an average daily reduction of 2.4 tons and an annual reduction of approximately 880 tons of CO2. This effect is equivalent to planting about 130,000 pine trees.
The government and Korea Zinc expect that successfully converting existing fossil fuel-based forklifts used in industrial sites to hydrogen mobility will contribute to popularizing the hydrogen industry and increasing public acceptance. Furthermore, Korea Zinc plans to continue its efforts to ensure that the Onsan Smelter becomes a representative success case of a green smelter with carbon neutrality and ESG management as an eco-friendly green smelter.
Choi Nam-ho, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "The hydrogen refueling station is the first step toward a hydrogen economy," adding, "The completion of this hydrogen refueling station can be a new opportunity to promote the spread of hydrogen mobility beyond the automotive sector to construction machinery."
Park Ki-duk, President of Korea Zinc, said, "We are grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to carbon neutrality by completing the first hydrogen refueling station within a national industrial complex and actually using hydrogen forklifts," and added, "Korea Zinc will continue various efforts to ensure that the Onsan Smelter becomes an eco-friendly green smelter and contributes to realizing carbon neutrality through the use of clean energy."
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