South Korea’s LG Chem aims to produce hydrogen from methane

LG Chem plans to build a hydrogen plant in South Korea’s Daesan that would produce 50,000 mt/year of hydrogen by 2024.

PHOTO: Tugboat helps to turn around a large container ship on its way out of the Port of Busan, South Korea. Getty Images

Chemical company LG Chem’s new plant will implement technology that converts methane to hydrogen through a chemical reaction under high-temperature steam.

South Korean government unveiled its “clean hydrogen” vision last year. The country aims to produce 27.9 million mt/year of hydrogen by 2050, including green or blue hydrogen. By end of this decade, South Korea intends to produce 3.9 million mt/year.

State-owned Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) is expected to complete the construction of its first hydrogen production plant with a capacity of 1,400 mt/year in Gwangju city by next year. Kogas plans to build two additional hydrogen production plants.

Moreover, South Korea's government is planning to build a logistic hub for imports of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, and related bunkering infrastructure.

The hydrogen produced in the LG Chem plant will primarily be used as a heating source to produce chemicals such as ethylene, propylene and buta-diene.