POSCO, Korea's biggest steel maker, opened the world's biggest hydrogen fuel cell production plant in the southeastern city of Pohang, the Korea Herald reported Friday.

According to POSCO, each fuel cell of the plant will be capable of producing 50 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to provide electricity to 17,000 households.

The plant took 11 month to be completed and was constructed jointly with the U.S.-based FuelCell Energy.

POSCO said it spent a total of 120 billion won (130 million U.S. dollars) to build the plant, with an additional 40 billion won (43 million U.S. dollars) used for research and development. It added that additional 10 billion won (11 million U.S. dollars) is earmarked for further research and development efforts up to 2012.

The company said fuel cell generators can achieve up to 47 percent energy efficiency, up from conventional generators' 35 percent.

By 2011, POSCO plans to build another of equal production capacity and develop Pohang into a mecca for the fuel cell industry.