Experts attending a new energy forum on Wednesday last week highlighted potential entry points for Taiwanese companies to the field of hydrogen fuel cells, adding that government support is important.
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy of hydrogen or other fuels into electricity by electrochemical reaction. As only electricity, water and heat are produced when using hydrogen as fuel, hydrogen fuel cells are widely considered a more environment-friendly energy source, with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles playing a leading role in its application.
Japan’s Toyota and South Korea’s Hyundai launched research and development initiatives on hydrogen fuel cells in 1992 and 1998 respectively, said Hung Yu-chan (洪于展), a researcher at the Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center.
Following the footsteps of those companies, the governments of their countries also incorporated hydrogen into their national energy plans, Hung added.
The Japanese government announced in 2017 a plan to create a “hydrogen society,” and less than two years later the South Korean government drew up a “technological road map for the hydrogen economy,” Hung said.
Lacking initiatives launched by established vehicle manufacturers, Taiwan’s comprehensive hydrogen development plan was unveiled with the government’s “Taiwan’s 2050 Net Zero Transition” road map, published last year, in which hydrogen was listed as one of the 12 key strategies to accomplish that goal.
Despite the relatively late start by the government, the hydrogen fuel cell system is a prospective niche for Taiwanese companies within the international supply chain, Hung said.
Government funding has encouraged research into fuel cell stacks, Hung said, adding that Taiwanese companies might also have a good chance of developing a niche in the supply chain of the “balance-of-plant” subsystem of fuel cell systems — which contain all the components of a fuel cell system except the stack — as many Taiwanese companies already specialize and excel in these components.
Hung also said that government support — especially in subsidies — is important.
Chung Hsin Electric and Machinery Manufacturing Co (中興電工) chief strategy officer Chen Chien-hao (陳建豪) said the corporation’s subsidiary Stellar Power System Co was established to focus on hydrogen energy, adding that the corporation believes hydrogen has greater potential than batteries as a renewable energy carrier, due to its storage capability and convenience in transport.
The forum was hosted by several green energy-related industry associations and Asia Silicon Valley-Major League IoT, an alliance set up under the initiative of the National Development Council’s Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan.
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