Hyundai Mobis has announced today that it is building two new fuel cell plants in Korea at an investment of $ 1.1 billion (KRW 1.3 trillion)to accelerate the hydrogen economy and secure broader global market dominance.
President Moon Jae-in and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new plant that will produce hydrogen fuel cell stacks at the Industrial Complex in Cheongna International City, Incheon.
With the largest fuel cell production capacity globally, the company is expected to gain even greater momentum in the global race for hydrogen mobility with the addition of new production locations.
Once they are completed, it will operate a total of three fuel cells plants. In 2018, the company became the world's first to set up a complete production system from fuel cell stack to the rest of the electronic components in Chungju.
The Chungju plant is capable of producing approximately 23,000 hydrogen cell systems a year. Most fuel cell systems produced by Hyundai Mobis are used in fuel cell EVs, but the company is expected to scale its business to other sectors such as construction machinery and logistics equipment.
Sung Hwan Cho, President and CEO, Hyundai Mobis, said, 'Despite uncertainties including COVID-19, we have decided to make this large-scale investment to secure the market-leading competitiveness in the global fuel cell industry. We will continue to invest more in facilities and strengthen our R&D capability for the development of the hydrogen industry and expand the ecosystem.'
With the completion of the new plants, Hyundai Mobis plans to expand its production lineups that apply fuel cell systems and diversify its hydrogen business.
Last year, Hyundai Mobis developed fuel cell power packs that go into hydrogen forklifts, opening up the possibility for entry into the construction machinery sector. The hydrogen power packs used for forklifts are generators that produce electricity on their own by combining a fuel cell stack, a hydrogen tank, and a cooling device.
Now the company is developing power packs for hydrogen-fueled excavators and plans to enlarge the fuel cell systems for small air mobility.