SEOUL, South Korea – The South Korean government and some of the country’s leading businesses will invest $2.33 billion in the next five years to enhance development of the country’s hydrogen fueling ecosystem, according to a report from Petrolplaza, an information provider to the fuel retailing industry.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officially announced the public–private partnership, which aims to increase the number of hydrogen production plants in order to support more hydrogen vehicles.

Plans call for having a network of 310 hydrogen fueling stations in operation by 2022 that can sustain 16,000 hydrogen vehicles. Another goal is the production of hydrogen-fueled buses to expand mass transportation services. Hyundai Motor Co., the state-run Korea Gas Corp. and other businesses are part of the project.

Some industry analysts are skeptical about the announcement since South Korea’s policy on hydrogen fueling has been inconsistent in the past, according to Business Korea.