Seoul is the famous city of Korea, where innovative technology has brought the miracles possible for beneficial purposes for mankind. The capital city of Seoul in South Korea looks to be taking the bull by the horns in its quest to provide proper power supply to citizens of Korea and fulfill the increasing energy needs through hydrogen cell power plants. Korea has been hit with energy crises since last year and government was highly criticized to not plan for energy needs.
In September of 2011, the country was hit by load shading of electricity and affecting millions and even leading to the resignation of its minister holding the portfolio of energy affairs. To offset any chance of a similar incident occurring again, The Seoul city has planned to construct 29 hydrogen-based fuel cell power plants which will be established in next two years and will start offering the electricity to the city all around.
The initiative will see Seoul being able to supplement its energy demands and provide for emergency power supply in the event of a crisis. Hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity by an electrochemical reaction. The resulting power supply is smooth and the process sees no harmful carbon emissions and noise. Till date, hydrogen fuel cells have been used for transportation, residential use and power generation.
To get the efficient energy resources for businesses, the Seoul government has announced that it will work to attract investors from electricity firms as well as private companies. The funding will be used to construct 102 fuel cells in buildings in the next two years as well.
If everything goes well, the Seoul citizens will be lucky to see the hydrogen fuel cell power plants that produce about 230MW of power by 2014 which will cater to the energy needs of 400,000 households.
These hydrogen cell power plants are planned to scatter around the Seoul city to counter any future blackouts and power cuts the city may face in future in water supply systems and subways.
Currently, South Korea has focused towards fuel cells and other renewables to make its mark in the world of green energy. Back in 2011, Daegu City became home to what is pegged to be the planet’s largest fuel cell park. The 11.2-MW facility provides electricity to a utility in Daegu while the heat generated as a byproduct is utilized by a wastewater treatment plant.