Fuel Cell Businesses of SK and POSCO Power on a Collision Course

SK forays into the fuel cell market, signaling a fierce competition with POSCO Power. SK concluded a cooperation agreement with Topsoe Fuel Cell of Denmark on May 12. According to it, the two work together for the development and commercialization of SOFCs (solid oxide fuel cells) down the road. Topsoe is in possession of relevant key technologies and is going to develop products in tandem with the TIC (Tech Innovation Center) a research institute affiliated with SK.

On the part of POSCO Power, a leading fuel cell maker of Korea, it means an uphill battle looming large since SK is planning to come up with products for power generation and building purposes. Earlier, POSCO Power announced that it will finish the development of a 100kW fuel cell applicable to buildings before this year’s end. It has recently succeeded in producing an MCFC (molten carbonate fuel cell) on its own, too.

As far as the SOFC production capacity is concerned, POSCO Power has the upper hand now. It has already secured original SOFC technologies for 5kW, 10kW and 25kW products and is currently working to put those to commercial use. Meanwhile, Topsoe began to test its 1kW model last year.

The thought behind SK’s choosing SOFC is that no company has been so powerful as to dominate the segment yet. SK is seeing that it, though a late starter, can take the lion’s share of the market by means of its technological partnership with Topsoe.