Hyundai Rotem plans to secure future growth engines by entering the hydrogen infrastructure business.
Hyundai Rotem announced on the 10th that it will enter the hydrogen charging facility supply business to build hydrogen refueling infrastructure and secure growth engines in line with the strategy of building a hydrogen mobility ecosystem promoted by Hyundai Motor Group.
In addition, the strategy is to create a synergy with the railroad business division, which is the main business, by providing the infrastructure for hydrogen electric trains to receive hydrogen stably.
Recently, hydrogen energy-related businesses are emerging as future growth projects with high economic feasibility. According to a report released by McKinsey in 2017 (Hydrogen scaling up), in 2050, hydrogen energy will account for about 18% of global energy demand, with an annual market value of $2.5 trillion (about 3,000 trillion won) It is expected to create jobs.
The Korean government is also making various efforts to preoccupy the global hydrogen economy market by announcing the’Hydrogen Economy Act Roadmap’, which aims to build 2.9 million units of domestic hydrogen vehicles and build 1200 hydrogen stations by the end of January 2040. . In line with this global trend, Hyundai Rotem entered the hydrogen infrastructure business in anticipation of continuing the high growth trend in the supply of hydrogen charging facilities according to the policy of expanding hydrogen mobility and hydrogen energy.
The hydrogen charging facility supply project that Hyundai Rotem is pursuing to secure a new power source secures the original technology of Susoriformer, a device that extracts hydrogen from natural gas, and provides a total solution ranging from design, purchase, and construction necessary for the construction of a hydrogen charging station. Way.
Hyundai Rotem is a hydrogen charging infrastructure-related business, and on the 29th of last month, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy signed a contract for one Susori former to be used for’hydrogen convergence charging station pilot project using biogas’ and built a’hydrogen production base’ ordered by Kangwon Technopark this month. The project was the first to achieve new results, such as winning orders for two Susori formers.
This time, Hyundai Sotem ordered Sosori former to be installed in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Samcheok, Gangwon-do by 2021. The hydrogen produced is used not only to charge hydrogen buses, but also to supply hydrogen to hydrogen utilization sites in the region.
Hyundai Rotem, which had no previous performance of Sosoriformer, was able to win this business for the first time due to the high performance and high product reliability of overseas advanced companies that have transferred Sosoriformer technology to Hyundai Rotem. Starting with this new order, Hyundai Rotem plans to deliver high-quality products in a timely manner and lay the foundation for further orders by securing successful business performance.
Hyundai Rotem established the Hydrogen Energy Development Team last year for the hydrogen charging facility supply business, and has been promoting technology introduction and technology development related to hydrogen infrastructure construction. In particular, Hyundai Rotem entered into a sublicense contract with Hyundai Motor in February to secure the original technology of Sosoriformer and transferred technology from overseas advanced companies to start manufacturing Sosoriformer products from February.
Susoriformer technology, which Hyundai Rotem is currently transferring technology, can extract 640kg of hydrogen (640kg/day) per day from natural gas. Hyundai Rotem plans to reduce costs by more than 15% compared to foreign Sosori transformers through localization when the technology transfer is completed, and to secure diversification of product portfolios by stages by 2025 to secure various reformer technologies.
In addition, Hyundai Rotem plans to establish a standard model for hydrogen charging stations by the first half of this year, and then develop a dispenser, a hydrogen charging device for vehicles, to secure additional technologies necessary to build a hydrogen vehicle charging station.
Susori former developed by Hyundai Rotem is an essential device applied to on-site hydrogen filling stations and hydrogen production bases. The on-site method can produce and store hydrogen in a filling station, so it can supply hydrogen at a lower price than the off-site method, where by-product hydrogen from a petrochemical plant is supplied through a trailer. In addition, it has the advantage of being easy to expand the hydrogen infrastructure because it can be built in places where it is needed, such as an area far away from the hydrogen production base.
Hyundai Rotem plans to preoccupy the hydrogen infrastructure market by reducing costs by localizing the Sosori former, an essential product for building on-site and hydrogen production bases, and securing product reliability based on high technology.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s 2020 work plan, there are plans to build 100 new hydrogen stations nationwide this year. Accordingly, Hyundai Rotem has made continuous efforts to enter into a business agreement (MOU) with each company and local government to commercialize the supply of hydrogen charging facilities.
In November of last year, Hyundai Rotem signed a business agreement with Chungcheongnam-do, Dangjin-si, and Hyundai Steel to promote the “Hydrogen Pilot City Creation Project”. By participating, we have the opportunity to participate in the ‘Hydrogen Production Cluster Construction Project’ in the future.
Read More: Hyundai Rotem and Hyundai Motor to Develop Hydrogen Train by 2020
In addition, Hyundai Rotem signed a business agreement (MOU) with Gyeongsangnam-do and Changwon-si, where the iron and defense factories are located, on the same month to establish a ‘large hydrogen mobility charging station’. The hydrogen station to be built in Changwon is expected to be completed in 2021, and is expected to be the first example of charging all hydrogen-based mobility such as trains, trams, commercial vehicles (buses, trucks), and passenger cars.
In line with the government’s supply of hydrogen cars and hydrogen energy, Hyundai Rotem aims to provide sales of hydrogen charging facilities and susoriformers to bases in downtown areas and highway rest areas to achieve sales of 110 billion won by 2022, followed by 350 billion won by 2025.
In addition, as the hydrogen charging infrastructure expands, demand for hydrogen mobility (tram, bus) to improve transportation convenience for each local government is expected, and thus, the sales of hydrogen-electric trams are expected to increase. The global demand for hydrogen electric trains is about 600 billion, and is expected to gradually increase as the hydrogen-electric train market grows.
Hyundai Rotem has been developing hydrogen-electric trams with Hyundai Motor since last year and manufactures performance test platform vehicles by 2021. Since Hyundai Rotem’s hydrogen-electric trams are modularized with hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen tanks, and cooling systems and mounted on the roof of a vehicle, optimal space efficiency can be secured by realizing a low-profile structure. The low-profile structure has the advantage of being convenient for getting on and off as well as ordinary passengers because of the low floor height of the vehicle.
Hyundai Motor Group announced plans to expand the production of hydrogen-electric vehicles to 500,000 units by 2030 through the’ FCEV Vision 2030′, a mid- to a long-term roadmap for hydrogen electric vehicles in 2018. The group has concentrated on building a hydrogen economy ecosystem by stating that it will make large-scale investments worth 20 trillion won.
As Hyundai Rotem launches a hydrogen refueling facility supply business as a new business, it will play an important role in the strategy of building a charging infrastructure, which is essential for building a hydrogen mobility ecosystem under Hyundai Motor Group.
A representative of Hyundai Rotem said, “It was necessary to actively seek entry into new businesses to secure future competitiveness amid changes in the business environment inside and outside. We will secure business products and diversify our business and establish long-term plans for future new businesses.” He also added, “We will consider expanding our products and entering new businesses through continuous investment in difficult business environments.”
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