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| In this photo from Jan. 3, 2020, Pyeongtaek Dangjin Port is filled with Korean eco-friendly vehicles for export. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korea's fifth largest harbor will become 100 percent hydrogen-based starting in 2040, as part of the central government's bid to neutralize carbon emissions and join international efforts to slow down global warming.
Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port on the west coast has been selected to become the country's first major harbor that produces net-zero carbon emission. The Pyeongtaek Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries, Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Pyeongtaek City Government, Korea Gas Corporation, Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek Port Corporation, Korea Gas Technology Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company, Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, Hyundai Glovis, and the business operators' association from the national industrial complex in Pyeongtaek's Poseung signed an agreement on July 26 aiming for that goal.
The upgraded harbor is expected to produce, import, store, transport and use hydrogen through its own ecosystem, according to the Port Policy Division under the Ports and Harbors Bureau of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port was selected among other major Korean ports because of a nearby liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. The facility can be utilized to produce and transport hydrogen to nearby cities and industrial complexes, and also fuel vehicles, according to the ministry.
"Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port is adequately equipped with infrastructure to produce, transport and use hydrogen," Oceans and Fisheries Minister Moon Seong-hyeok said. "With the latest deal, the harbor will become a model for hydrogen-based ports and pave the way for other harbors to deploy their own hydrogen ecosystems."
The participating parties in the new project will start building a hydrogen complex inside the harbor, expand hydrogen vehicles for services there and set up facilities to import hydrogen, test hydrogen-fueled ships, trains and harbor facilities.
In 2020, Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port ranked fifth in Korea in terms of shipment volume totaling around 106,845 tons. Busan ranked at the top, followed by Gwangyang, Ulsan, and Incheon ports. During the same year, Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port handled about 1.26 million imported and exported vehicles, the most in the country.
Starting with Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port, the ministry plans to make other major ports 100 percent hydrogen-based by 2040, establishing a nationwide network of harbors running under the same ecosystem. This plan was originally introduced during the "2021 P4G Seoul Summit" in May. At that international forum seeking ways to fight climate change, the Korean government also revealed its plan to design ammonia-fueled supersize container ships, develop a smart harbor at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands in cooperation with Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, reduce plastic waste in the oceans and cooperate with ASEAN countries to monitor marine waste.
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