Asia’s proclivity for the renewable energy market has been on full display in recent years as several of the region’s nations outline their plans to boost reliance on the renewable energy market over the coming years. In that expansionary vision, hydrogen has emerged as a go-to energy resource that the litany of Asian nations is aiming to develop. South Korea is among the nations in the region that recently opened the 2025 hydrogen project tender program to advance the deployment and usage of hydrogen in the market.
Hydrogen has become a major driver for the adoption of the renewable energy sector
As the renewable energy market grew, wind and solar power have dominated the sector for decades; however, the only constant in life is change, and the use and deployment of hydrogen as an energy resource has grown tremendously, enabling nations that previously relied on solar and wind power to adopt the hydrogen sector.
South Korea is one such nation that has welcomed the hydrogen sector with open arms in recent years and has now opened the tender process for 2025 for a litany of international energy companies to make their bids. Notably, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy announced that the hydrogen power bidding market for 2025 is officially open.
South Korea’s hydrogen power bidding market is designed to attract large hydrogen-based project developers
The ministry has noted that the aim of the hydrogen power bidding market is to enable purchasing and supplying electricity generated using hydrogen or hydrogen compounds as fuel. The system is separated into two distinct categories, namely the clean hydrogen power and general hydrogen power categories, depending on the type of fuel used.
There are certain requirements that need to be considered to participate in the tender process
The ministry has noted that in order to take part in the tender process, companies need to meet certain requirements, such as using fuels that meet South Korea’s clean hydrogen certification standard, which requires greenhouse gas emissions of 4 kg CO₂e or less per 1 kg of hydrogen. For this year’s tender process, bidding volume is 3,000 GWh/year, or the annual electricity consumption of approximately 850,000 households in South Korea.
Another requirement is that power generation from projects needs to begin by 2029, with a one-year grace period being provided for the initial development phase of any hydrogen project. Important to note is the fact that this year’s bidding tender features two new mechanisms, namely an exchange rate-linked settlement system and a hydrogen volume borrowing system.
The advancement of the hydrogen sector is a global initiative, with Fusion Fuels’ contract for a new electrolyzer and hydrogen refueling station in Southern Europe serving as an exemplar of the international embrace of the hydrogen sector. The bidding system in South Korea will foster a new wave of hydrogen production and usage in the Asian market, thereby ensuring the consistent growth of the market over the coming years as demand for renewable energy increases.
Global sentiments for hydrogen production are set to reach a tipping point
The calls to diversify the international energy market to integrate more renewable energy projects have not fallen on deaf ears. The new bidding tender system launched in South Korea is a step in the right direction for the hydrogen industry. Another driver for the expansion of the hydrogen sector has been the adoption of the resource in Europe, with Air Liquide approving the construction plans for its ELYgator electrolyzer project in the Netherlands. The growth of the hydrogen sector is reaching a tipping point as more nations aim to increase investments in the sector over the coming years to meet demand.
