HD Hyundai, ABS to set standards for e-propulsion ships

South Korea's HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (HD KSOE) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., partnered with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to capture a large electric propulsion ship market.

HD Hyundai announced on Friday that the day before, they signed a cooperation agreement with ABS for shipboard high-voltage direct current (MVDC) classification regulations and research" at the Seongnam (Gyeonggi Province) HD Hyundai Global R&D Center.

MVDC is a technology that transmits high-voltage electricity between 1.5-100 kilovolts in direct current, attracting attention as the next-generation power supply technology due to its lower energy loss compared to alternating current transmission.

In particular, when applied to large electric propulsion ships, MVDC can improve energy integration efficiency by up to 20% compared to existing methods.

However, shipboard MVDC systems are still facing difficulties in commercialization due to the lack of international standards, HD KSOE and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have signed an agreement with ABS to address these issues through collaboration.

Previously, HD KSOE built the first DC-based hybrid electric propulsion ship Ulsan Taehwa using a low-voltage direct current (LVDC) transmission system. The Ulsan Taehwa is a medium-sized ship weighing 2,800 tons.

Additionally, in collaboration with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD KSOE received basic design certification from Lloyd's Register in the UK in Oct. last year for a low-carbon electric propulsion system for oil transport ships incorporating MVDC and high-capacity fuel cells (SOFCs).

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com