Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
POSCO seeks W30 tril. sales in hydrogen business by 2050
POSCO's climate action report / Courtesy of POSCO
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
POSCO will achieve 30 trillion won in sales from its hydrogen business by 2050, as part of the steelmaker's carbon neutrality strategy, the company said Sunday.
POSCO plans to secure an annual capacity of 5 million tons of hydrogen by 2050 to meet growing domestic demand.
According to the company, Korea's hydrogen demand will grow to 1.94 million tons in 2030 and 5.26 million tons in 2050, based on solid increase in the demand from transport and power generation industries.
To achieve the target, POSCO said it would secure electrolysis and other technologies required for producing hydrogen efficiently by 2030, and increase its hydrogen business as one of the business group's main drivers.
POSCO is now capable of producing 7,000 tons of hydrogen annually, using byproduct gases from the steelmaking process and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
To expand hydrogen capacity, POSCO said it would try to develop technologies using hydrogen for steelmaking and new steel products needed for producing and storing hydrogen.
Through this, the company planned to increase its byproduct hydrogen capacity to 70,000 tons a year by 2025. POSCO seeks to produce 500,000 tons of blue hydrogen in partnership with a global company by 2030 and 2 million tons of green hydrogen by 2040.
Hydrogen is categorized into grey, blue and green hydrogen depending on emission level. Grey hydrogen is the most common, produced industrially from natural gas, and generates carbon emissions. Blue hydrogen is also produced from natural gas or other fossil fuels but its CO2 emissions are captured and stored. Green hydrogen is cleanest, made from renewable energy sources.
“POSCO will spare no efforts to take a leading role in producing and supplying hydrogen, and contribute to the country's initiative to build a hydrogen economy,” Chairman Choi Jeong-woo said.
Last week, POSCO announced it would reach carbon neutrality by 2050, through hydrogen-based steelmaking technologies.