Global Business Innovation Programme in South Korea - Hydrogen

A GBIP has three stages:

Prepare for the market

Preparing for the market includes the cohort being briefed by sector and market experts on, for example, cultural aspects of conducting business in that country. Delegates receive help to find business partners and arrange meetings and are advised on best practice including the management and protection of their intellectual property.

Visiting the market

Visiting the market provides opportunities to attend pre-arranged meetings and activities in order to better understand and maximise the opportunities that the visit presents.

Exploiting the opportunity

Exploiting the opportunity is arguably the most important aspect of the programme. To maximise the opportunity, participating companies are given bespoke one-to-one support from an Innovate UK EDGE innovation and growth specialist to help develop and implement an action plan.

The Global Business Innovation Programme operates on a competitive basis and businesses selected are required to participate in all three stages (some or all of which may be online).

To apply, you must be a UK based innovation-led company with ambitions to grow and internationalise, with fewer than 500 employees. You must be able to attend and complete all activities.

South Korea’s 2019 Hydrogen Economy Roadmap set out the country’s plan to dominate the global hydrogen market with goals to produce 6.2 million fuel cell electric vehicles, 41 thousand hydrogen buses, roll out 1200 refuelling stations and supply 15GW of fuel cells for power generation by 2040.

By February 2023, the country had made significant strides in the adoption of hydrogen technology, with the introduction of 30,000 hydrogen vehicles, 231 hydrogen charging stations, and 893.97 MW of fuel cells for power generation. However, despite these advancements, the expected greenhouse gas reduction targets have not been fully realized.

To ramp up clean hydrogen utilisation the government will establish a hydrogen power generation bidding market, enact legislation for hydrogen business, and introduce a clean hydrogen certification system in 2024.

With the importance of the hydrogen industry gradually emerging local governments are looking to overcome challenges and strengthen their competitiveness through international collaboration and by attracting major hydrogen related projects.

With a hydrogen economy set to double in size from £9.1 to £17.3 billion in the next 10 years, the opportunities for UK companies developing hydrogen technologies are considerable.

Focus Theme: Innovative Technologies that provide solutions for Low & Green Hydrogen:

• Infrastructure: distribution of hydrogen and refuelling
• Storage: for refuelling and on vehicle
• Transportation

Register for the applicant briefing event on 18th July 2023 here

Closing date for application: 18th August 2023
Pre-visit workshop: 20th and 21st September 2023
Innovation visit:  27th October to 4th November 2023
Exploitation workshop: 6th December 2023