Consortium established in South Korea to develop floating offshore hydrogen production facility

[Courtesy of Korea Maritime & Ocean University ]

SEOUL – A South Korean consortium of government research institutions and private companies was set up to develop an offshore floating facility that uses wind power to produce hydrogen. The consortium has set itself the goal of building a 1.0 megawatt pilot plant in 2022, before a plant in the gigawatt class is developed and demonstrated in 2030.

The consortium, led by Korea Maritime & Ocean University (KOMU) and the Korean Register (KR), a marine classification society, would develop a floating hydrogen production storage and discharge facility called “Hydrogen FPSO”. The consortium also includes other research institutions as well as companies from the shipbuilding, shipping and hydrogen sectors.

KOMU sees Hydrogen FPSO as the optimal option for South Korea to achieve energy independence, export-related technologies and accelerate the use of hydrogen as a fuel as it can alleviate public concerns about hydrogen gas and help South Korea achieve carbon neutrality. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle charging stations are slow to build because South Koreans feel unsafe standing near residential areas.

“In the future, KMOU will also conduct research, development and demonstration of hydrogen FPSO with our patented floating nuclear power system,” said KMOU President Doh Deog-hee in a statement on August 11th. South Korea has entered an international race for the development of floating offshore nuclear power plants.

KEPCO E&C, the power plant design and engineering wing of a state utility company, has partnered with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), a domestic shipbuilder, to develop an offshore floating nuclear power plant based on a small modular reactor (SMR). called BANDI-60S, a block type pressurized water reactor. The block design, where the main components are connected directly from nozzle to nozzle, can eliminate the risk of an accident with large coolant loss due to large fractures.

SMRs have been studied to address the limitations of traditional low-enriched uranium light water reactors, which are expensive to replace for nuclear fuel and require a huge emergency evacuation zone, non-proliferation and waste management. Small reactors with modular technology allow less construction work on site, higher containment efficiency and increased safety.

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