SEJONG, Nov. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has built a hydrogen plant in the country’s western region, the oceans ministry said Tuesday, in a move that could further boost its efforts to support the promotion of hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.

The Korea Western Power Co.’s plant in Taean, some 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul, can transform carbon monoxide into hydrogen by using marine microorganisms in the deep sea, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said in a statement.

The plant has an annual capacity of about 330 tons of hydrogen, an amount that can power about 2,200 hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles a year.

A completion ceremony for the plant is scheduled on Wednesday. The ministry said the plant will be up and running for more than six months continuously to make sure the plant’s operation makes economic sense and is safe.

The move came as South Korea has been seeking to go green and promote fuel-cell electric vehicles that do not emit the greenhouse gases largely responsible for global warming.

In January, South Korea said it will increase the number of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles to about 80,000 units by 2022 as part of a broader effort to boost the hydrogen economy.

A hydrogen fuel cell electric car only releases water vapor as it converts stored hydrogen into electricity to turn the motor.

(Yonhap)