South Korean city to get 700 hydrogen buses by the end of 2024 — powered by dirty H2 from fossil fuel
Incheon will become the world leader in fuel-cell buses, with 200 units delivered this year, in deal between Korean government, city council, Hyundai and LNG supplier SK E&S
The city of Incheon in South Korea will have 700 hydrogen buses on its roads by the end of 2024 — more than any other metropolitan area in the world — with 200 in place this year after the Korean government signed a deal with the city council, Hyundai and local liquefied natural gas supplier SK E&S.
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
“I hope that Incheon City’s large-scale hydrogen bus conversion programme will spread nationwide and become a driving force for the supply of hydrogen mobility,” said Geum Han-seung, head of the Climate and Carbon Policy Office at the MOE. “We will continue to provide policy support to achieve carbon neutrality by supplying hydrogen buses and at the same time provide clean and healthy commuting to the public.”
The country has focused on the use of hydrogen for transport and power because it does not believe it will be able to produce enough green electricity itself to reach its target of net-zero emissions by 2050, largely due to a lack of available land in the densely populated nation. Its geographic isolation also means it could struggle to import green electricity via cables from neighbouring countries.
It therefore believes it will have to import large quantities of clean hydrogen to reach net zero — even if that would significantly increase the cost of energy in the country.