Renewable Hydrogen Battles For The Soul Of Hyundai
Credit to Author: Tina Casey| Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2020 17:41:15 +0000
Published on February 17th, 2020 | by Tina Casey
February 17th, 2020 by Tina Casey
The see-saw, up-and-down race to replace fossil hydrogen fuel with renewable hydrogen just got a little more interesting and it all comes down to Hyundai, which is apparently competing with Toyota for the fuel cell vehicle crown. Hyundai just inked a fossil-hydrogen deal in South Korea, but meanwhile with the other hand it also John Hancocked a green H2 agreement with the US Department of Energy. And then there’s that little project it has going on in Switzerland…
Renewable hydrogen fuel station SimpleFuel by IVYS Energy Solutions via US DOE
To begin with the most recent news first, over the weekend Hyundai announced that between 2023 and 2024 it will deliver a total of 12 fuel cell trucks to South Korea’s Gwangyang Port in South Jeolla Province. The port also hosts petrochemical operations, and at least for now the idea is to fuel the trucks with hydrogen from those facilities.
Nooooo!
On the plus side, though, Hyundai has ramped up the renewable hydrogen angle on its long running collaboration with the US Department of Energy for fuel cell vehicles.
The latest twist involves sending five of the company’s splashy new Nexo fuel cell sedans to the Energy Department for a technology validation study.
The five-car order is small in number but could be large in impact. Last time we checked, Nexo fans could only get one in California. If all goes according to plan, both the cars and the fuel will be available in other states.
At least one of the cars is heading to Washington, DC, where Hyundai will also support the installation of a compact renewable hydrogen fuel station developed by the US company IVYS Energy Solutions under the moniker SimpleFuel, with a generous assist from the Energy Department.
The idea was to come up with a shippable, modular unit that can fit into a parking spot and “split” hydrogen from water, ideally with wind or solar energy providing the electricity needed to run the system.
Toyota already has two SimpleFuel units in Japan, so it looks like the DC unit is a right-back-at-you moment for Hyundai.
Circling back around to that South Korea project, by the time they get those fossil fuel cell trucks up and running, renewable hydrogen will be poised to sprint ahead.
Hyundai has already hatched plans to launch 1,600 fuel cell trucks into the Swiss market under an agreement with the renewable hydrogen consortium Hydrospider.
If Hydrospider doesn’t ring any bells, join the club. The collaboration hasn’t hit the CleanTechnica radar yet, so here’s the rundown from its website:
Hydrospider AG is the result of the collaboration between und . Both companies hold 45% of the shares in Hydrospider AG. The remaining 10% is held by .
Alpiq is one of the leading Swiss energy service providers and electricity producers, particularly in the hydropower sector.
H2 Energy is a pioneer in hydrogen and fuel cell solutions.
Linde is a leading industrial gases and engineering company serving customers in more than 100 countries.
Got all that? Aside from wind and solar, Hydrospider is focusing on hydropower to fuel its electrolysis-based system for producing hydrogen from water.
As for whether or not renewable hydrogen can compete with battery EVs and gasmobiles in the open market, analysts are all over the map.
Some see a cost-competitive future looming just over the horizon, say in about five years or so — just like Hyundai and Hydrospider have planned.
Other analysts see renewable hydrogen edging into the stationary energy storage market in the near future, while struggling to get a foothold in mobile applications.
Hmmm. If you have any ideas about that, drop us a note in the comment thread.
In the meantime, consider that all three states in the far reaches of the US northeast — Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont — are already putting out feelers for stationary energy storage through renewable hydrogen, with the aim of sucking more renewable energy into their grids.
CleanTechnica is also reaching out to Hyundai to see where those other Nexos are going. Aside from DC, perhaps one of them will land in “real America,” where a new hydrogen-promoting consortium just launched.
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Photo (screenshot): IVYS Energy Solutions renewable hydrogen fuel station via US Department of Energy.
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Tina Casey specializes in military and corporate sustainability, advanced technology, emerging materials, biofuels, and water and wastewater issues. Tina’s articles are reposted frequently on Reuters, Scientific American, and many other sites. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter @TinaMCasey and Google+.