Doosan to make new fuel cell for hydrogen power plant deals

South Korea’s Doosan Fuel Cell Co. plans to begin mass production of a new phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) model, which is expected to raise power generation efficiency by 25% to cut electricity production costs, in the second half as it aims to win deals to build hydrogen power plants in the country to be ordered from July.

Doosan Fuel Cell is in the final stage of testing for the mass production of the 5CSA, the new PAFC model, which produces 550 kilowatts (kW) of electricity per unit, according to industry sources on Wednesday. The 4CSA, the existing PAFC of the affiliate of a major domestic power plant builder Doosan Enerbility Co., generates 440 kW.

The 4CSA is equipped with a reformer, which converts natural gas to hydrogen, but the 5CSA does not need the component as it directly processes hydrogen to generate power. Doosan Fuel Cell installed a 110 kW cell in the space for the reformer in the new model.

The 5CSA is considered highly competitive in price as it generates more electricity although its size is the same as the 4CSA.

Doosan Fuel Cell plans to reduce production costs by manufacturing its own materials for fuel cells. The company recently took over the production division for electrode materials, the core ingredient of fuel cells, from Doosan Corp., the holding company of South Korea’s plant and machinery powerhouse Doosan Group.

HYDROGEN POWER PLANT DEALS

Doosan Fuel Cell aims to secure orders scheduled from July to build normal and clean hydrogen power plants in partnerships with constructors and electricity generation subsidiaries of the state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp.

South Korea plans to generate power of 1,300 gigawatt hours (GWh) with normal hydrogen from 2026 and 6,500 GWh with clean hydrogen from 2027.

Separately, Doosan Fuel Cell plans to mass-produce a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), another hydrogen fuel cell, from May 2025 to expand its business from the power plant sector to the transportation industries.

The company is set to develop an SOFC for vessels and start demonstration operations next year.

Its subsidiary HyAxiom Motors Co. aims to launch a hydrogen-fueled bus equipped with Doosan Fuel Cell’s proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) this year.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.