KSOE backs solid oxide fuel cell company with US$48M investment

KSOE has signed a strategic investment in Elcogen of €45m (US$48M), pending approval by Elcogen’s shareholders of the issue of the new shares to KSOE.

Elcogen manufactures technology that enables the delivery of green hydrogen and emissions-free electricity.

HD Hyundai’s investment follows an R&D collaboration agreement with Elcogen signed in January 2023, which was focused on further testing Elcogen’s technology and developing systems.

With the new investment, the two companies say the intend to focus on marine propulsion systems and stationary power generation based on Elcogen’s proprietary solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and green hydrogen production based around Elcogen’s solid oxide electrolyser cell (SOEC) technology.

"This investment will be used to expand Elcogen’s manufacturing capacity as it continues to build the Company’s new factory facility in Tallinn, Estonia, with a manufacturing capacity of up to 360 MW to meet increasing demand for its products," Elcogen said in a statement.

A KSOE MoU with Elcogen sees the companies agree to design and prototype-test large-capacity SOFC systems for use in ships and power generation. KSOE and Elcogen also intend to work together to manufacture systems in South Korea, and further strengthen the companies collaboration in SOFC and SOEC technology.

"As part of HD Hyundai’s progress towards marine propulsion, its SOFC systems will initially target providing auxiliary power on board vessels before scaling up to provide propulsion," the company said.

Among other things, Elcogen said HD Hyundai had chosen its SOFC and SOEC technology because of their flexibility in producing electrical energy from a variety of fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas, ammonia, methanol and biofuel, and their suitability for ship engines.

Hyundai/KSOE chief executive Kisun Chung said, “We expect this investment, and the strategic collaboration HD Hyundai and Elcogen will build together will lay the cornerstone for realising the sustainable future energy ecosystem HD Hyundai envisions, which includes developing next-generation clean energy technologies and expanding the value chain capabilities of future core energy sources, including hydrogen.”