Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Doosan Fuel Cell, a clean energy unit of South Korea's Doosan Group, will work with Navig8, an integrated provider of shipping management services, to demonstrate a 50,000-ton petrochemical product carrier installed with a solid oxide fuel (SOFC) system, which is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing fuel.

Doosan Fuel Cell said in a statement on November 10 that the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Navig8 for the development of a SOFC system for ships and power generation. Navig8 will review the structural design of a SOFC ship and provide technical support with Korean Register, a classification society offering verification and certification services for ships.

"We will push for new hydrogen-related businesses along with entry into the eco-friendly ship market," Doosan Fuel Cell Chairman Yoo Soo-kyung said, adding his company can carry out the fuel cell business in a stable manner through joint work with Navig8.

In an effort to start the mass-production of SOFC from 2024, Doosan Fuel Cell would invest some 72.4 billion won ($63 million) to build a SOFC manufacturing line. In July 2019, the company partnered with Ceres Power of Britain to develop a SOFC power system for commercial buildings.

South Korea is investing heavily to utilize hydrogen fuel cells as a new power source. In September 2019, SK Engineering & Construction, a unit of South Korea's SK Group, signed a joint venture agreement with Bloom Energy to develop and produce SOFC. In June, Samsung Heavy Industries partnered with Bloom Energy, an American public company, to develop core technologies for highly efficient solid oxide fuel cells for ships by 2022.