Hyundai to install hydrogen bus chargers at Incheon airport
Hyundai Motor President Han Sung-kwon, second from left, poses with Air Liquide Korea president Guillaume Cottet, left, Incheon International Airport Corp. President Koo Bon-hwan, second from right, and HyNet CEO Yoo Jong-soo, after signing an agreement to build charging facilities for hydrogen buses at Incheon International Airport at the airport's headquarters in Incheon, Monday. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor
By Kim Yoo-chul
Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will install a charging station to fuel hydrogen buses at Incheon International Airport.
The installation has been set for completion in March 2021. Hyundai will support the construction cost of the hydrogen refueling station while providing buses as well as their maintenance and service. Air Liquide will provide two high-capacity hydrogen chargers and supply hydrogen gas.
The South Korean automotive group will team up with French firm Air Liquide, the world's top supplier of industrial gases, for the project, the statement said. When President Moon Jae-in made a state visit to France, on the sidelines of his meetings with state leaders in Europe, Moon and senior presidential aides visited a hydrogen gas charging station in downtown Paris with Air Liquide's CEO highlighting the benefits of the energy technology.
Tuesday's announcement came after Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC), the operator of the country's gateway airport, said it plans to “gradually replace” old-fashioned shuttle buses powered by legacy combustion engines with hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses over the next five years.
Hyundai Motor is one of the global leaders in expanding the lineup of fuel-cell vehicles given its earlier experience in the mass-production of the fuel-cell SUV Nexo. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, demand is growing for the storage and utilization of hydrogen-based energy.
Hyundai Motor is on track to explore future business opportunities in the energy sector based on its ability to mass-produce fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and EVs. But more precisely, the scope of its business includes hydrogen-based electrolyzers, hydrogen power plants and refueling stations.
Hyundai Motor is aiming to beef up the current capacity of 3,000 cars per year to 11,000 by 2020, 130,000 by 2025, and 500,000 by 2030 with 700,000 fuel cell systems in the same year and it plans to keep prices competitive by making a variety of body types through system miniaturization.
Market analysts and investors cautiously expect Hyundai Motor to get the results it wants after 2030 when cost competitiveness is attained as that year is forecasted to be the time when FCEVs will reach effective commercialization thanks to an increase in total production volume, cost reduction through economies of scale and cost improvements in the supply chain.