In-Depth
Hyundai and Kia announce collaboration with Next Hydrogen to develop water electrolysis system

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia announce a collaboration with Next Hydrogen on water electrolysis system.

SEOUL and TORONTO — Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding with Next Hydrogen Corporation, a Canadian company specializing in water electrolysis technology and a subsidiary of Next Hydrogen Solutions Inc., bolstering their efforts to usher in a global hydrogen society through cost-effective production of clean hydrogen.

Under the agreement, the companies will jointly develop an alkaline water electrolysis system and its related stack for the purpose of generating green hydrogen economically and exploring new business opportunities and technological applications.

Today it is expensive and time consuming to produce clean hydrogen. Due to this reason, Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Next Hydrogen are looking to improve the price competitiveness of clean hydrogen in consideration of regional climate and environmental characteristics. The companies, which are expanding their base by examining the strengths and weaknesses of various water electrolysis technologies, agreed to explore the possibility of alkaline water electrolysis system among various water electrolysis technologies this time.

Among the various methods of water electrolysis, the alkaline water electrolysis system is regarded as technologically one of the most rigorously tested and proven means with a long track record of research and development. Also, it has the advantage of being able to produce large-scale hydrogen and using relatively inexpensive catalysts, making facility costs low.

“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,” said Jae-Hyuk Oh, Vice President and Head of Energy Business Development Group at Hyundai Motor Group. “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.”

“Next Hydrogen’s innovative water electrolysis stack design technology is an ideal solution for enabling the economical production of green hydrogen,” said Raveel Afzaal, President and CEO of Next Hydrogen. “We are extremely appreciative of the opportunity to work with Hyundai Motor and Kia, given their industry leadership as champions of this technology. This partnership is expected to accelerate efforts to address the incredible emerging opportunities in sustainable transportation globally.”

Due to high production costs, many hydrogen companies around the world are researching ways to advance their water electrolysis technologies for producing green hydrogen more economically. This common goal has brought Hyundai Motor Group and Next Hydrogen together to hopefully develop the technology as a more cost-efficient solution.