Reporter Cho Sang-rok of Hello Tea |
Hyundai Mobis will build two additional hydrogen fuel cell production bases in Korea. With this addition of new bases by Hyundai Mobis, the strategy to strengthen global hydrogen mobility leadership promoted by Hyundai Motor Group is expected to gain more momentum.
On the afternoon of October 7, Hyundai Mobis held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant for the production of hydrogen fuel cell stacks at the high-tech industrial complex in Cheongna International City, Incheon. The event was attended by President Moon Jae-in and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, as well as officials from the government, related organizations and companies.
The hydrogen fuel cells to be produced in Incheon and Ulsan will have an annual capacity of 100,000 units, and the new base will be completed and tested in the second half of next year, followed by full-scale mass production from the second half of 2023. The total investment amount is about 1.3 trillion won.
If two additional bases are secured, Hyundai Mobis’ hydrogen fuel cell production plants will increase to three in Korea. In 2018, Hyundai Mobis established the world’s first integrated hydrogen fuel cell system production system in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. Currently, the fuel cell system production capacity of the Chungju plant reaches 23,000 units per year.
After producing a fuel cell stack in Incheon, it was commercialized as a fuel cell system in Ulsan.
The hydrogen fuel cell plant newly built by Hyundai Mobis plans to operate with an optimized production system through process dualization. Hyundai Mobis selected the location of this new base considering the efficiency of production and operation as its top priority.
The fuel cell system produced at the new base will be supplied to finished car plants through Incheon’s Cheongna and Ulsan plants. Incheon Cheongna Plant produces fuel cell stacks (key parts that make electric energy through electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and air), receives them from Ulsan Plant, and combines fuel cell systems (stacks, hydrogen and air supply devices, thermal management devices, etc.) system) to finalize it and supply it to finished vehicles.
Cheongna, Incheon, has the advantage that it is easy to establish a collaboration system between hydrogen-related industries and secure research personnel through the hydrogen cluster being promoted at the local government level, and Ulsan is located near the finished car production complex, so supply and operation efficiency can be improved. Hyundai Mobis expects that it will be helpful in sourcing and supplying local manpower specialized in the process by utilizing such locational characteristics.
With this new base as an opportunity, Hyundai Mobis plans to diversify its fuel cell business by expanding its product lineup that applies fuel cell systems. Currently, the fuel cell system produced by Hyundai Mobis is mainly used for vehicles, but the business area is expected to expand to non-vehicle sectors such as construction machinery and logistics equipment in the future.
Already last year, Hyundai Mobis independently developed a fuel cell power pack for hydrogen forklifts, opening up the possibility of using fuel cells in the field of construction equipment. The power pack used in the hydrogen forklift is a generator that generates electricity by itself, and is a system that integrates a fuel cell stack, a hydrogen tank, and a cooling device.
Hyundai Mobis is also developing power packs for hydrogen excavators following hydrogen forklifts.
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