Hyundai Motor and Kia will work with Next Hydrogen to develop an advanced alkaline water electrolysis system that is both innovative and cost-effective.
The groups believe that by producing clean hydrogen at a low cost, they will be able to advance efforts to create a global hydrogen society.
The companies will work together to develop the water electrolysis system and its associated stack for the purpose of producing green hydrogen at a low cost, as well as explore new business opportunities and technological applications.
While researching various methods for producing hydrogen, Next Hydrogen, Hyundai, and Kia discovered alkaline water electrolysis to be one of the most technologically tested and proven methods.
Furthermore, it has the advantage of being able to produce large amounts of hydrogen while using relatively inexpensive catalysts, lowering the cost of producing hydrogen.
The goal is to improve stack-related technologies that are at the heart of the alkaline water electrolysis system in order to lower the cost of construction and maintenance/operation.
The project’s main benefit is that it will be possible to develop a new stack that can operate at high current density and produce green hydrogen economically by improving the performance of stack-related technologies in the alkaline water electrolysis process.
Hyundai Motor and Kia’s component technology for electrodes, bipolar plates, and current collectors will be combined with Next Hydrogen’s design technology in the newly developed stack.
Hyundai Motor and Kia will also oversee the test performance of the new stack with a pilot test planned for next year.
Jae-Hyuk Oh, Vice-President and Head of Energy Business Development Group at Hyundai Motor Group, said, “We are pleased to partner with Next Hydrogen specialising in state-of-the-art water electrolysis technology.
“This partnership is another leap forward for our hydrogen business and will be our first step into the alkaline water electrolysis market.
“We believe our technology will be an excellent match for Next Hydrogen’s technology, and this synergy will help achieve our goal to provide our customers with cost-effective green hydrogen.”
