GOYANG, South Korea. EnergyNews.biz has named Kolon Industries first, TNE Korea second and Powertech Labs of Canada third in the WHE 2026 Media Pick Award, announced at KINTEX during World Hydrogen Expo 2026. EnergyNews.biz is an official media partner of the expo and one of the judging media for the award, together with the organizer.
Why EnergyNews.biz judged the WHE 2026 Media Pick Award
World Hydrogen Expo 2026 brought 197 exhibiting companies from 12 countries to KINTEX. For a reader, a show floor of that size is hard to read. Which company has a product that works, a customer that pays and a plan that scales? The Media Pick Award exists to answer that question from the media side. Journalists who follow the hydrogen market all year walk the floor, talk to the people behind the booths and say who impressed them.
How the winners were chosen
The organizer shortlisted 33 exhibitors for the media judges. Before the show we researched every company on that list: products, certifications, financial results, named customers and news from the last twelve months. Then we visited booths on the floor, spoke with the teams and checked the claims in person. Each finalist was scored on four points: marketability, possibility in the global market, investment potential and competitiveness. Previous winners were not eligible, so the award goes to companies that have not had it before.
The three WHE 2026 Media Pick Award winners
1st place, Kolon Industries. A listed Korean group that makes polymer electrolyte membrane materials and humidifiers for fuel cells and has a growing hydrogen storage tank business. It combines real hydrogen products with the financial strength to scale them. More at kolonindustries.com.
2nd place, TNE Korea. A maker of oil free turbo air compressors for hydrogen fuel cells. The company listed on KOSDAQ on 29 October 2026, and its compressors sit at the centre of fuel cell systems, including those built for data centres. More at tnekorea.com.
3rd place, Powertech Labs, Canada. A subsidiary of BC Hydro with accredited hydrogen testing, station technology and tube trailers. Its smart tube trailer carries 1,050 kg of hydrogen at 517 bar, and the company is building its presence in Korea through a local agent. More at powertechlabs.com.
What the award means for the hydrogen market
The three winners show where the hydrogen business is heading in 2026. Fuel cell materials, compressors and testing infrastructure are the parts of the chain that decide whether projects can be built on time and on budget. The expo theme, Hydrogen Moves to Market, points the same way. Buyers now ask for certified equipment, named references and suppliers with a balance sheet, and the companies we selected can show all three. EnergyNews.biz will follow each of them with interviews and updates in the weeks after the show.
Other companies we met at World Hydrogen Expo 2026
After the award ceremony our team spent the rest of the day at the booths of sixteen more companies and the CzechInvest agency, and we spoke with all of them: Korea GasGen, SeoJin Instech, KwangShin Machine, SCL Energy, Sumitomo SHI Cryogenics Korea, SoluForce, WIKA Korea, Hylium Industries, Scitech Korea, Energyn, TMEIC, BMT Superlok, Gaius Holdings, Technical Korea, Bumhan Fuel Cell and NKTECH, and we also stopped at the booths of Techcross, ENPOS with KAJI Technology and Daeji Automotive. Their work spans fuel cells, cryogenic equipment, instruments, fittings and power conversion for hydrogen plants. Interviews and booth reports from these conversations follow on EnergyNews.biz in the coming days.
Earlier in the show we also published our report on the H2Global double sided auction model presented at the expo. Congratulations to Kolon, TNE Korea and Powertech Labs, and thank you to the organizers of World Hydrogen Expo 2026 for the invitation to judge.
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