Saudi officials head to Ulsan in search of hydrogen, the future energy source

[Financial News Ulsan = Reporter Choi Su-sang] High-ranking officials from the Saudi Arabian government responsible for smart city policies and representatives from the Misk Foundation visited Ulsan, a leading city in the hydrogen industry, for two days on the 15th and 16th. It was reported that the purpose of their visit was to personally observe the sites of Korea's hydrogen economy and energy transition policies.
According to Ulsan City on the 22nd, the visitors to Ulsan are 11 high-ranking officials at the director level or higher from seven related agencies, including the Saudi government's Ministry of Transport and Logistics.
On the first day of their visit to Ulsan, they visited Ulsan City Hall and held a cordial meeting with Mayor Kim Sang-wook. During the meeting, Mayor Kim introduced the current status of Ulsan as a hydrogen city and the region's energy infrastructure, including the hydrogen port and LNG and crude oil storage facilities.
After visiting City Hall, they visited the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Demonstration Center, a site for technology demonstration in Ulsan's hydrogen industry. By touring the center's major demonstration projects, the current status of hydrogen fuel cell technology development, and related facilities, they confirmed Ulsan's foundation for hydrogen technology development and demonstration.
At Ulsan Green Hydrogen Town in the Yuldong District, the visiting delegation examined the process of hydrogen being utilized as an actual energy source for the city. The delegation personally inspected hydrogen fuel cell facilities installed in buildings, heating and hot water supply systems for apartment complexes, and electrical facilities for transmitting electricity produced from fuel cells.
On the following day, they examined the electrification production lines at automotive manufacturing facilities designed to respond to the global trend of electrification in the automotive industry, and confirmed the future competitiveness of Ulsan's automotive industry and the direction of its transition to an eco-friendly and future mobility industry.

Saudi Arabia is pursuing Saudi Vision 2030, a national development project aimed at diversifying its existing energy-centric industrial structure into manufacturing and hydrogen energy. In this regard, it has shown significant interest in Korea's intelligent cities and hydrogen economy.
It is reported that they particularly seek cooperation and technology sharing with Korea in areas such as intelligent city governance and spatial information, intelligent transportation and autonomous driving, the hydrogen economy and energy transition, and intelligent robotics technology.
Hyundai Motor Company is currently building an automobile production plant in the King Salman Automotive Industrial Park in Saudi Arabia as a joint venture with the Saudi government.
Ulsan City also plans to use this visit as an opportunity to identify cooperative projects that can integrate Ulsan's experience in developing hydrogen cities into the intelligent city and energy transition policies promoted by the Saudi Arabian government.
In particular, based on Ulsan's industrial capabilities in hydrogen energy supply and utilization, hydrogen mobility, fuel cells, and energy storage, the plan is to continuously expand the possibilities for policy exchanges and international cooperation with the Saudi government in the hydrogen and energy sectors.
[email protected] Choi Su-sang Reporter