Kia Corporation and Hyundai Motor Company have joined hands with Next Hydrogen Corporation, a Canadian company that specializes in water electrolysis technology. Basically, it's a subsidiary of Next Hydrogen Solutions Inc that is working towards a global hydrogen society through cost-effective production of clean hydrogen. As per the agreement, the companies will jointly develop an alkaline water electrolysis system1 and its related stack for the purpose of generating green hydrogen economically and exploring new business opportunities and technological applications.
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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 specializing 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."
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The newly developed stack will use Kia and Hyundai Motor's component technology related to electrodes, bipolar plates and current collectors, combined with Next Hydrogen's design technology.
At present, clean hydrogen production is expensive and time taking. So, Kia, Hyundai Motor and Next Hydrogen are looking to improve the price competitiveness of clean hydrogen in consideration of regional climate and environmental characteristics. Among the various methods of water electrolysis, the alkaline water electrolysis system is regarded as technologically one of the most rigorously tested and proven methods with a long track record of research and development. Then, it can be produced at large-scale hydrogen and using relatively inexpensive catalysts, making facility costs low. The idea is to advance stack-related technologies that are at the core of the alkaline water electrolysis system to reduce the cost of building the system and maintaining or operating it. The best part is, it will be possible to develop a new stack which can be operated at high current density and produce green hydrogen economically.
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The newly developed stack will use Kia and Hyundai Motor's component technology related to electrodes, bipolar plates and current collectors, combined with Next Hydrogen's design technology. Kia and Hyundai Motor will also oversee the test performance and a pilot test is planned for next year, after which the companies will also explore potential technological applications and commercial arrangements.
