Hanwha Ocean Canada Chief Says "Hyundai Motor Group Proposed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Infrastructure in Submarine Bid Race"

Canada to Soon Select Contractor for 60 Trillion Won Submarine Project

Yonhap News Agency

A key official of the consortium bidding for the project said on February 24 (local time) that Hyundai Motor Group has proposed building hydrogen fuel cell infrastructure in Canada as part of its bid to win the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), which is worth up to 60 trillion won.

In a Bloomberg interview released the same day, Glenn Copeland, president of Hanwha Ocean Canada, said that Hyundai Motor Group recently proposed an initial plan to Canadian officials who visited Korea, under which hydrogen fuel cell facilities would establish three to four network corridors capable of supporting railways or heavy-duty freight trucks.

Copeland explained, "If this plan is realized, it will involve a substantial amount of investment," adding, "It could bring innovative changes to major transportation corridors, whether for freight trucks or railways." However, he noted that the plan has not yet been finalized and that discussions are under way between Hyundai Motor Group and the Canadian government.

Regarding this, Hyundai Motor Group is reviewing "various opportunities for cooperation with Canada, including potential collaboration in the hydrogen sector," Bloomberg reported.

Copeland was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy and served for 22 years as an operations and tactics officer and as executive officer of a patrol vessel before retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He later worked at Lockheed Martin Canada as the manager in charge of the Halifax patrol frigate modernization program. Hanwha Ocean recently recruited him as head of its Canadian subsidiary to help win the Canadian submarine project.

For Canada’s patrol submarine project, a consortium of Korea’s Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is competing in the final round against Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). In addition to performance, delivery schedule, and price, tangible Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) to Canadian industry are being reflected as an important evaluation criterion.

Canada is currently making a common request to both Korea and Germany to establish infrastructure for submarine maintenance along the Canadian coast. In addition, Canada is reportedly showing interest in investment across its key industries, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, rare earth mineral development, small modular reactors (SMR), and high-speed rail.