Kim Sae-hoon, head of Hyundai Motor’s fuel cell business division, and Oh Jae-suk, chief of LS ELECTRONIC’s global business division, pose after they signed an MOU on mutual cooperation in the development and supply of a “hydrogen fuel cell power generation system” at Hyundai Motor Environment Technology Research Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, on Dec. 8.

Hyundai Motor and LS ELECTRONIC are making joint efforts to develop a power generation system using hydrogen and fuel cells.

Hyundai Motor, a leader in the global hydrogen electric vehicle segment, has teamed up with LS ELECTRONIC, the nation’s No. 1 industrial power generation and transformer maker, to launch a pilot project to generate power based on hydrogen and fuel cells.

The two companies struck an MOU on mutual cooperation in the development and supply of a hydrogen fuel cell power generation system at Hyundai Motor Environment Technology Research Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, on Dec. 8.

The companies pledge to make joint efforts to generate electricity by using hydrogen, an eco-friendly clean energy, to alleviate an unstable supply of electricity for industrial use.

The deal comes after Hyundai Motor, diversifying the development and commercialization of fuel cell, is on the same wavelength with LS ELECTRONIC, expanding fuel cell-based power generation.

The collaboration is expected to have synergetic effects between Hyundai Motor, having already owned key technologies related to hydrogen fuel cell and LS ELECTRONIC, which has mass produced a variety of electric instruments.

Under the agreement, Hyundai Motor will be responsible for the development of systems to generate power based on hydrogen fuel cells, while LS ELECTRONIC will be charged with the producing power generation systems and building convergence solutions.

Hyundai Motor’s hydrogen electric vehicle “Nexo,” Hyundai Motor electric truck “Xcient,” and hydrogen electric bus “Elec City” have been already outfitted with a 95KW hydrogen fuel cell system.

Hyundai Motor began shipping its proprietary fuel cell system to Europe for use by non-automotive companies including a Swiss hydrogen solution firm, GRZ Technologies Ltd, in September.

The move reinforces Hyundai’s leadership in the development and mass production of fuel cell systems for vehicles and beyond.

Under the deal, Hyundai Motor plans to expand the non-automobile hydrogen fuel cell segment and advance hydrogen society.

Hyundai Motor and LS ELECTRONIC will launch a pilot project to develop a power generation system using hydrogen fuel cell through verification next year and afterward implement a full-fledged project.

If a hydrogen fuel cell power generation system with a better startability is developed, it will adjust power generation output whenever power is needed.

A view of Nexo fuel cell electric vehicle, released by Hyundai Motor. (Photos: Hyundai Motor)

Industry sources expect the upcoming power generation system to be made available for emergency power generation and power peak substitution for buildings and industrial operation, reducing a reduction in power generation lead of power grids, and eliminating power supply fluctuations of renewable energies such as solar power and wind power.

Participating in a ceremony to strike the deal were Hyundai Motor Executive Vice President Kim Sae-hoon, head of the fuel cell business, Hyundai Motor Vice President Park Soon-chan, chief of the fuel cell business office, and LS ELECTRONIC Senior Executive Vice President Oh Jae-suk, head of the global business division, and LS ELECTRONIC Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Kim Young-geun.