Hyundai Signs MOU to Use Fuel Cell Technology to Generate Electricity

Hyundai Motor Company has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two South Korean energy firms to generate electricity from hydrogen. Hyundai will be collaborating with these companies to leverage technology from the company’s NEXO hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and use it to power around 2,200 homes.

This pilot project would be conducted in collaboration with Korea East-West Power (EWP) and Deokyang. It would involve Hyundai Motor building the fuel cell system which will deliver a 1-megawatt (MW) hydrogen fuel cell power facility. EWP would manage the facility and sell the electricity while Deokyang would supply the hydrogen.

The agreement between the three companies was finalized in a signing ceremony that was attended by Hyundai’s Head of Strategy and Technology Division, President and Chief Innovation Officer Youngcho Chi, as well as Il Jun Park and Chi Yoon Lee who are the presidents of EWP and Deokyang respectively.

The three companies are slated to break ground later this year for the 1 MW power facility in the city of Ulsan. The facility will comprise two container-type 500 kW generator modules, each of which will be loaded with multiple power modules from Hyundai’s flagship fuel cell vehicle NEXO.

The facility is expected to generate an annual supply of 8,000 MWh. This amount of electricity should be adequate to power about 2,200 households at 300 kWh per month, while there would be zero greenhouse gases or pollution as the source of the energy is hydrogen.

The hydrogen used in the facility will be byproduct of the hydrogen which would be sourced from a nearby petrochemical complex. The hydrogen would be transported through a pipe network, reducing costs and making use of local energy sources.

The pilot project will serve as an opportunity for Hyundai Motor to extend the scope of its fuel cell technology beyond the automotive industry to achieve economy of scale, and this is subsequently expected to lead to cost competitiveness, job creation, and growth of other related industries.

EWP will benefit by securing an increased share of renewables in its energy mix, while Deokyang will move one step closer to reducing the price of hydrogen through increased trade volume and stable management of supply and demand.

Hyundai Motor will collaborate closely with EWP and Deokyang to expand the scope of the project down the line.

Hyundai hopes to foster the fuel cell industry and other related sectors in the future, and will continue its commitment to leverage its fuel cell technology to build a Hydrogen Society in accordance with the FCEV Vision 2030 it had announced earlier this year.