[Featured Stock] EM Korea, World's First Hydrogen Law... World's Largest Nanoporous Hydrogen Generation Catalyst Technology

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] EM Korea is showing strong performance. The news that the "Special Act on the Promotion of Hydrogen Economy and Safety Management" for fostering the hydrogen industry passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 9th appears to have influenced the stock price. South Korea is the only country that has enacted a hydrogen law to effectively promote the transition to a hydrogen economy.

As of 9:47 AM on the 10th, EM Korea was trading at 4,480 KRW, up 10.75% (435 KRW) from the previous trading day.

With the enactment of the hydrogen law, a legal basis has been established to ensure safety for low-pressure hydrogen products and hydrogen fuel usage facilities such as water electrolysis equipment. Water electrolysis equipment refers to facilities that produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water using renewable energy and is still in the demonstration stage. The passage of the hydrogen law has established a hydrogen economy implementation system, including the formation and operation of the "Hydrogen Economy Committee," which will serve as the control tower for the hydrogen economy, and the designation of dedicated agencies to promote the hydrogen industry and support hydrogen distribution and safety.

EM Korea conducts hydrogen-related businesses through its subsidiaries EM Solution and Elkemtech. EM Solution has an environmental division that manufactures ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) and food waste treatment plant systems, and an energy division engaged in manufacturing and construction of hydrogen energy and stations. Elkemtech started its business in 2003 with water electrolysis technology and possesses specialized technological capabilities in sterilization, hydrogen water, and hydrogen energy fields through electrolysis technology, including the development of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), a core technology of water electrolysis, and large-capacity hydrogen generation electrolysis systems. Elkemtech has been recognized for its technology, being listed as a holder of PEM electrolysis-related technology by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

According to quarterly reports, since 2000, EM Korea has independently developed water electrolysis hydrogen generation devices by investing tens of billions of won in R&D over several years. It has secured commercialization technology for hydrogen manufacturing devices, hydrogen stations, and hydrogen plant systems. Hydrogen stations are operating at the Saemangeum Theme Park in Jeonbuk and on Jeju Island. In 2013, with support from Daegu City for the Daegu World Energy Conference, a 50Nm3-class commercial-level hydrogen complex was installed.

Since October 2014, EM Korea has built the most hydrogen stations domestically, including the establishment of a hydrogen station in Gwangju. Through about 15 years of hydrogen energy R&D, it plans to become the most competitive hydrogen energy company with top-tier competitiveness.

Earlier, in 2017, Elkemtech developed the first domestic system capable of producing hydrogen by linking photoelectrodes with solar cells. Holding technology in the PEM electrolysis field, Elkemtech collaborated with Professor Jaesung Lee’s team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) to successfully produce a system capable of generating 1L/hr of hydrogen by linking photoelectrodes with solar cells during a government project researching clean hydrogen production technology.

The hydrogen production method using solar energy as a power source is gaining global attention in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere for being more environmentally friendly than electrolysis, with advantages such as lower power consumption and reduced initial operating costs. Elkemtech adopted basic research results from Professor Jaesung Lee’s team at UNIST, which achieved over 8% solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency using artificial leaf technology, to develop its solar photoelectrolysis system.

Elkemtech also commercialized the world’s largest hydrogen manufacturing device by nano-porous structuring the anode microstructure, which acts as a water-splitting catalyst, through electrochemical dealloying, achieving over 90% hydrogen generation efficiency and 20% power consumption reduction. The nano-porous catalyst is economical as it can use existing manufacturing methods, and by changing the catalyst components, it can be applied to various electrolysis fields beyond water. Applying the nano-porous catalyst reduces the cost of hydrogen production via water electrolysis to around 5,000 KRW, contributing to the activation of the hydrogen economy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.