World's No.1 Shipbuilder and Power Semiconductor Company Join Hands for Ship Automation

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Germany's Infineon Jointly Develop Ship Electrification Technology

HD Hyundai's intermediate holding company, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, has partnered with the world's number one power semiconductor company from Germany to electrify ships.

On the 28th, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering announced that it recently signed a "Mutual Cooperation Agreement (MOU) for Joint Development of Ship Electrification Technology" with Infineon Technologies at HD Hyundai's global R&D center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering stated, "We are actively promoting ship electrification to respond to increasingly stringent environmental regulations," adding, "We will secure power semiconductor-related technologies necessary for ship electrification by collaborating with a global leader in power and automotive semiconductors."

Electric propulsion ships move using output generated by electric motors instead of engines. To stably control the motor output, a 'propulsion drive' is installed. Power semiconductors are responsible for power conversion and control within the propulsion drive. They are key components that determine the performance and reliability of the propulsion drive.

At the HD Hyundai headquarters Global R&D Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Lee Seung-su, CEO of Infineon Technologies Korea (from left), Vivek Mahajan, Vice President of Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, Jang Gwang-pil, Head of Future Technology Research Institute at HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and Seol Seung-gi, Technical Advisor at HD Hyundai, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a mutual cooperation agreement for the joint development of ship electrification technology.
[Photo by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering]

Through this MOU, Infineon will support HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering with the power semiconductor technology required for developing ship propulsion drives. Additionally, if necessary, they plan to jointly develop power semiconductors optimized for propulsion drives and exchange technologies related to electrification in the ship sector.

Jang Gwangpil, head of the Future Technology Research Institute at HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, said, "Through cooperation between the shipbuilding industry and the world's number one power semiconductor company, we will secure core electrification technologies and lead ship electrification."

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have recently started joint development with the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) to localize propulsion drives, which currently rely on foreign products. These propulsion drives are based on MMC (Modular Multilevel Converter) power circuits and are specialized for large-capacity, high-voltage systems.

Last year, HD Hyundai integrated its electrification research organizations within the group, opened an Electrification Center at the global R&D center, and appointed Professor Seol Seunggi of Seoul National University, a world-renowned expert in electrification, as a technical advisory committee member for the Electrification Center. The HD Hyundai Electrification Center conducts research on advanced electrification technologies and core component development in the shipbuilding and construction machinery sectors.