Hyundai Heavy to develop core technology for seawater electrolysis system

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. signed a business agreement for jointly developing seawater electrolysis system core technology at the Korea Institute of Materials Science in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday.

A total of eight organizations participated in the signing ceremony, including Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Hyundai Oilbank, Seoul National University, Pusan National University, Hanwha Techwin and Heesung Catalysts.

The latest agreement was prepared to combine the strengths of each entity in industry, academia and research institutions to develop core materials for seawater electrolysis, anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer stack and system unit technology.

With this agreement, Hyundai Heavy Industries expects to accelerate the commercialization of the green hydrogen production system using seawater, an infinite resource, once the laboratory unit performance can be mass-produced by the industry.

Hyundai Heavy Industries is accelerating efforts to secure key technologies for water electrolysis, such as jointly developing catalyst and electrode technology for seawater electrolysis with Pusan National University and the Korea Institute of Materials Science and a process analysis model for water electrolysis system with Seoul National University.

In addition to water electrolysis, it is also carrying out the national project of development and demonstration of safety-based small hydrogen-powered ship technology in the field of hydrogen fuel cells and is establishing a foothold in the eco-friendly energy business.

These organizations plan to hold regular information exchange meetings to share the current status of research and seek ways to cooperate with each other.

Write to Seo-Woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com