Construction has officially begun on the world’s largest hydrogen fuel-cell power station, a 108MW facility in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province.

The ₩819.1bn ($580.7m) Gyeongju Gangdong Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Project, launched on 25 September, is being delivered through the Regional Revitalization Investment Fund with backing from ESD Holdings and Gangdong Energy.

Once operational in 2028, the site will provide long-term baseload electricity to South Korea’s grid, powered by grey hydrogen produced on site from natural gas.

The new plant will overtake the 79MW Shin Incheon Vision Dream hydrogen facility in Incheon as the world’s largest single hydrogen fuel-cell installation. Local officials have tied the investment to a broader economic strategy.

North Gyeongsang governor Lee Chong-ruu stated: “Energy is the rice of the future industry. I will pay special attention to subsequent investment projects because it is important not only to simply build one power plant, but it is important to link the region's abundant power sources to the future industrial investment.”

Financing has been structured to share risks between local government and private capital, with Housing City Guarantee Corporation (HUG) providing guarantees for project finance loans to lower costs and boost stability.

The plant has secured a long-term renewable energy certificate (REC) contract to guarantee profitability over a planned 20-year operational period. For Gyeongju and the wider province, the scheme is also viewed as a catalyst for attracting power-hungry industries such as AI data centers and smart farms, leveraging the new energy base to drive regional development.