Hyundai shipbuilding group to develop technology for next-generation direct current distribution

By Lim Chang-won Posted : April 12, 2019, 11:05 Updated : April 12, 2019, 11:05

[Courtesy of Hyundai Electric]


SEOUL --South Korea's Hyundai shipbuilding group partnered with a state-financed research body to develop a next-generation direct current distribution method which is creating a new global market due to growing demands for new and renewable energy.

Hyundai Electric, an electric systems division of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), said Friday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with the research institute of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), a state utility company, on the development of a next-generation direct current distribution network that converts AC power into direct current or directly supplies direct current.

High-voltage electricity transmission lines use alternating current. DC terminals can reduce the loss of electricity, but they are more expensive than AC terminals because they need components to transform DC voltage and convert current. Prices have been falling through technical innovations.

Hyundai Electric said it would team up with the KEPCO research institute to develop technologies and products for a 1.5MW direct current distribution network. On a trial basis, a next-generation direct current distribution network would be installed at HHI's R&D center to be built in 2021 at Pangyo in southern Seoul.

Hyundai Electric, a major player in the domestic transformer market, plans to develop power transformers such as AC/DC converters and DC/DC converters by next year and apply them to the 20-story Pangyo center, which will serve as the technical management control tower for HHI, which acquired Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in March.

 
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