Two industrial giants unite to reshape the global energy landscape through an ambitious hydrogen ecosystem expansion. Air Liquide and Hyundai Motor Group have renewed their strategic partnership, targeting comprehensive infrastructure development across three continents. This collaboration extends far beyond traditional automotive applications, encompassing production facilities, storage systems, transportation networks, and utilization technologies that promise to accelerate the worldwide transition toward sustainable energy solutions.
South Korean achievements demonstrate the partnership’s commercial viability
The strengthening of their joint strategy was announced by Air Liquide and Hyundai Motor Group during the CEO Summit of the Hydrogen Council in Seoul. The focus areas for this strengthened joint strategy include fostering the use of hydrogen in Europe, South Korea, and America. This joint strategy leverages the innovation prowess of Hyundai Motor Group in mobility and the technological capabilities of Air Liquide for a sustainable energy future that enables carbon neutrality.
The collaboration identifies important regional hubs that are meant to facilitate the development of a hydrogen ecosystem. This includes critical projects such as increasing the number of refueling stations for hydrogen, unlocking storage capacities to keep up with rising demand, as well as securing low-carbon supply chains stretching from low-carbon production to use. Innovation acceleration for the technology underlying hydrogen continues to be a major component.
Infrastructural development targets heavy-duty transport sectors
The companies would focus primarily on the application of hydrogen mobility with a commercialization initiative for fuel cell electric vehicles for various purposes such as logistics distributions, urban buses, and ports. This would help address various sectors where the use of hydrogen would be more beneficial than battery-powered electric mobility solutions for ranges and refueling time requirements.
South Korean achievements demonstrate the partnership’s commercial viability
Hyundai has rolled out over 2,000 hydrogen buses and 37,000 passenger fuel cell vehicles in South Korea. They have continued to expand their scope in 2026. They have worked together in such projects as new and advanced hydrogen refueling stations via Hynet and Kohygen, where both parties hold a shareholder role. They have enhanced their role in providing solutions for hydrogen in collaboration with Lotte-Air Liquide Ener’Hy. They opened the largest 450-bar filling station in Daesan.
Such positive outcomes in South Korea give a solid basis for successful expansion in European and American markets. The successful commercial viability of FCV technology with existing refueling infrastructure indicates that this public-private partnership has managed to provide effective hydrogen-based solutions. Innovations in supply chain management in Korea would help guide future expansion for successful technology transfer.
Global leadership through Hydrogen Council co-chairmanship drives industry standards
Partnership growth timeline
- Phase 1 (2025-2026): Infrastructure development in established markets
- Phase 2 (2026-2028): Technology transfer to new regions
- Phase 3 (2028-2030): Full-scale commercial deployment
As co-chairs for the Hydrogen Council, Air Liquide and the Hyundai Motor Group would be responsible for encouraging cooperation and standardization worldwide in driving the expansion of the hydrogen ecosystem. This positioning gives them leverage in shaping regulatory environments and encouraging standardization for technology developments. This means that even though this particular association would be a bilateral one, its presence would span across several sectors with the wide adoption of hydrogen.
“It gives us great pleasure to further our collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group. Synergistic collaborations such as this among major players along the value chain are critical for establishing a hydrogen economy,” said Armelle Levieux, a member of the Executive Committee of Air Liquide.
The enhanced collaboration between Air Liquide and Hyundai is a critical step forward in the adoption of hydrogen globally. They possess strong credentials in terms of success in South Korea, where a model for expansion in Europe and America has been created. Besides that, being a co-chair of the Hydrogen Council gives these companies a strong presence in this market. They are poised to lead other firms in going carbon neutral.
