Powering past tourism Jeju island bets on green hydrogen tech Will it pay off

JEJU – From a distance, the Hamdeok Green Hydrogen Station looks just like any other petrol station.

But instead of the bulky pump nozzle, a more slender fuel nozzle pipes compressed green hydrogen into a vehicle.

It takes around six minutes to refuel a Hyundai hydrogen fuel cell electric car at Hamdeok on Jeju island, the first refuelling station to offer commercial sale of green hydrogen in South Korea.

With 6kg of hydrogen on board, a car can travel for around 600km, rivalling the latest electric vehicle (EV) battery technology in terms of ultra-fast charging times and driving range.

The volcanic island of Jeju is well known for tourism, drawing more than 11 million visitors per year. But it is gearing up for a different kind of future as it positions itself as a test bed for green hydrogen energy while striving for carbon neutrality by 2035, well before the national target of 2050.

As part of the journey, the island wants to increase its renewable energy generation rate to at least 70 per cent.

Analysts interviewed by The Straits Times note that there are challenges in scaling up renewable hydrogen adoption, such as production costs and storage. But they are hopeful that costs can be lowered with further innovation.

“Economies of scale, learning rates, increased policy support and development of wider energy infrastructure will bring down production costs,” said Dr Thomas Koller, who oversees hydrogen, ammonia, sustainable fuel and carbon capture issues for energy systems in the Asia-Pacific region at risk management firm DNV.

“Costs of renewable hydrogen produced by electrolysis will fall with innovation as well as with larger production modules being manufactured,” he added.

The subtropical island, with a population of about 700,000 people, enjoys advantages in harnessing renewable energy, especially via wind and solar. However, limitations