An increasing number of governments and enterprises are focusing on hydrogen as an energy source with oil prices fluctuating and after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act includes a lot of incentives for hydrogen development and utilization. The examples include a subsidy of US$3 per kilogram of green hydrogen production. The United States is planning to lower its green hydrogen production unit cost from US$6 to US$1 per kilogram by 2030.
Germany is accelerating investment and R&D to become less reliant on Russian natural gas. It is going to invest 9 billion euros in its hydrogen economy until 2030 while putting into commercial operation 10 GW of water electrolysis equipment. It also signed agreements with Australia and Latin American and Middle Eastern countries for stable hydrogen production.
In Japan, a demonstration project is underway for maritime transport of green liquid hydrogen from Australia. It is aiming to achieve hydrogen-centered carbon neutrality by 2050 by further developing hydrogen fuel cells and water electrolysis.
South Korea is aiming to reduce its reliance on foreign water electrolysis technologies from the current level of 40 percent to zero by 2030. Its ongoing R&D tasks include more advanced hydrogen storage and transport, electricity generation based on mixed combustion of natural gas and hydrogen, and electricity generation based solely on hydrogen combustion.
Hyundai Motor Group recently developed a next-generation hydrogen fuel cell system and its second-generation Nexo is scheduled to debut with it in 2024. SK Group is building liquid hydrogen production plants and charging infrastructure while investing in fuel cell-based power generation.
Lotte Group is investing in ammonia-based hydrogen extraction and clean ammonia procurement. POSCO is working on steelmaking based on hydrogen instead of coal. Hyosung Group is developing materials for liquid hydrogen production and storage and Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries are developing liquid hydrogen fuel cells for use in vessels and clean ammonia transport technologies.