Hanwha Solutions to supply hydrogen tanks to Shell in US

Hanwha Solutions Corp., a chemical and energy unit of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Tuesday it has won a deal to provide hydrogen tanks to global energy firm Shell PLC in the United States.

Hanwha Cimarron, its wholly-owned US subsidiary, will be supplying the Neptune hydrogen tanks, as Shell is pushing to participate in a project led by California to build 1,000 hydrogen charging stations in the state by 2030, Hanwha said in a release.

Hanwha declined to give more details on the deal, including the amount or value of the supply, citing contract terms.

Neptune is a "type 4" tank made of carbon fiber-based composite materials that can store up to 2,000 liters of hydrogen, according to Hanwha.

It has the anti-buckling technology designed to prevent tanks from being deformed or damaged even if the stored hydrogen is extracted completely from the tank.

Normally, type 4 tanks need to keep about 10 percent of hydrogen in the tank to prevent it from shrinking, a point cited as a weakness in terms of transportation efficiency.

Hanwha Cimarron is also spending $51 million to build a high-pressure tank production facility in Alabama, with the construction to be completed in the second half of this year, Hanwha said.

Once fully operational, it will be able to produce 4,000 hydrogen tanks a year. (Yonhap)