Hyundai Motor Group will work with LG Energy Solution, Wonik PNE and others to test technology that reuses spent electric vehicle batteries in energy storage systems (ESS). The project will connect an ESS with an EV fast-charging station to assess charging infrastructure efficiency and the potential for reusing spent batteries.

Hyundai Motor and Kia said they held an event on Sept. 10 with LG Energy Solution, Hyundai Engineering and Wonik PNE at Wonik PNE’s Dongtan site in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to launch a demonstration project for a Used Battery Energy Storage System (UBESS) based on spent EV batteries.

The project will use battery packs previously deployed in Hyundai Motor Group vehicles built on its Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). It is Korea’s first ESS demonstration using spent E-GMP batteries. The system has a capacity of 200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and will operate in conjunction with an EV fast charger.

The ESS will store electricity during periods when power rates are lower and use the stored electricity for EV fast charging when rates are higher. The participating companies will test charge and discharge control algorithms, system safety and reliability, battery performance and charging service quality.

LG Energy Solution will build the ESS using spent battery packs provided by Hyundai Motor and Kia and will be responsible for battery diagnostics and performance and safety validation.

Wonik PNE will handle facility operation and technical validation based on its EV charger manufacturing and charging infrastructure expertise.

Hyundai Engineering will assess the project’s economic viability in a real-world business environment and its potential integration with EV charging infrastructure businesses.

Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to use the demonstration results to establish a system for reusing spent batteries and evaluate ESS business models.

Samsung Electronics is expanding professional installation and service training for heat pumps as it steps up efforts to target Korea's electric heating and cooling market.

Samsung Electronics said on Sept. 10 that it opened a dedicated EHS heat pump training center at its CS Academy in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The company provides business-to-business (B2B) partners and installation engineers with training covering water piping construction, product installation, commissioning and service inspections.

The EHS heat pump is a system that uses air-source heat and electricity to provide cooling, heating and hot water. Samsung Electronics installed water tanks, hot-water distributors, water piping equipment and fan coil units (FCUs) at the training center to create an environment similar to actual installation sites. It also provides commissioning training using an artificial intelligence (AI)-based appliance diagnostic program.

The company will also begin domestic production. Samsung Electronics has established a production line for EHS heat pump boilers at its Gwangju plant in Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, and plans to begin mass production at the end of this month.

Samsung Electronics installed an EHS heat pump boiler at a detached house in Jeju in June and is testing its "EHS All-in-One" system, which provides cooling, heating and hot water through a single system. The company is also testing its suitability for apartment buildings at Samsung C&T's Residential Performance Research Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

"We will respond to the growing electrification of heating by expanding professional training and service infrastructure following the establishment of our domestic production base," said Lim Sung-taek, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics' Digital Appliances (DA) Business.

HD Hyundai is expanding its supplier support program beyond first-tier partners to second- and third-tier suppliers, covering about 7,500 companies working with its shipbuilding, power equipment and construction machinery affiliates.

HD Hyundai said on Sept. 10 that it signed a joint agreement for mutual growth with first-, second- and third-tier suppliers at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan shipyard. Five affiliates — HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Samho, HD Hyundai Marine Solution, HD Hyundai Electric and HD Construction Equipment — are participating.

The five affiliates will pay suppliers in cash and cash-equivalent instruments. They will also operate financial support programs to help stabilize suppliers’ operations and provide training and equipment to improve productivity and safety.

The companies will also provide technology escrow programs to protect suppliers’ technology assets and support efforts to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities. First- and second-tier suppliers will improve payment terms for second- and third-tier suppliers, respectively, and expand the use of mutual-growth payment systems.

“Suppliers are our partners for sustainable growth,” an HD Hyundai official said. “We will continue cooperation and support for mutual growth.”

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has selected Korean battery startup UBATT as the battery supplier for the KF-21, filling a supply-chain gap created by Israeli company SolarEdge's withdrawal from its battery business in Korea.

KAI recently selected UBATT to supply batteries for 80 KF-21s planned after the initial production run of 40 aircraft, as well as for export models, according to industry sources on Sept. 10. UBATT is a startup specializing in batteries for aerospace and defense applications.

Development of the KF-21 began in 2015 and was completed this year. The battery supplier was finalized relatively late because SolarEdge, the previous supplier, exited the battery business. SolarEdge entered the defense battery market after acquiring Korean battery maker Kokam in 2018, taking over its military battery technology and production infrastructure and supplying batteries for the KF-21.

The issue arose when SolarEdge decided in late 2024 to withdraw from its Korean operations. The company agreed to supply batteries only for its existing contracted volume, requiring KAI to find another supplier for subsequent production.

KAI began searching for a replacement last year. UBATT competed with LiBEST, Grinergy, RootJade, Enertech International and Top Material, according to industry sources. Some companies, including LiBEST, had been considered strong candidates after participating in aerospace battery development, but UBATT was ultimately selected. UBATT will manufacture and supply the battery cells, while ITScience will assemble them into packs and deliver them to KAI.

UBATT's core technology is its proprietary Thick Electrode Platform (TEP). Thicker electrodes can store more energy but may reduce power output and performance. UBATT's technology is designed to mitigate those limitations by maintaining electrode uniformity while increasing thickness. The company is developing high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries and lithium metal batteries (LMBs). It has its own production facilities and can handle battery cell design and manufacturing in-house.

Before the KF-21 battery project, UBATT jointly developed batteries with KAI for unmanned aircraft used in Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) systems. It has also developed drone batteries with Poongsan and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

UBATT was selected for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's Defense Innovation Company 100 program in 2024 in recognition of its technology. It won the startup category at the InterBattery 2025 Awards last year and has attracted investments from Hyundai Motor, Korea Development Bank and POSCO Technology Investment.

The KF-21 is a domestically developed 4.5-generation fighter aircraft led by KAI over about a decade since 2015. System development was completed this year, and the first production aircraft rolled out in March. The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to the Republic of Korea Air Force this month.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration plans to deliver 40 KF-21s to the Air Force by 2028 and add another 80 by 2032, bringing the fleet to 120 aircraft. KAI has already secured production contracts for the 40 aircraft scheduled for delivery through 2028.

About 65% of the components used in the KF-21, including the battery, are domestically produced. That is a higher localization rate than previous fighter aircraft produced under license in Korea. The domestically developed T-50 supersonic advanced trainer has a localization rate of about 59%. KAI plans to raise the KF-21's component localization rate to more than 80%.

"We cannot confirm any contract with KAI or whether we will supply batteries for the KF-21," a UBATT official said.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will invest more than 1 trillion won in land-based power generation engines and small modular reactors (SMRs) to meet growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

The company said in a regulatory filing on Sept. 10 that it will invest a total of 1.0722 trillion won to build a new power generation engine production base and a dedicated plant for SMR main components.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will invest 833.6 billion won in power generation engines. It will build a HiMSEN engine production base with annual capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) in Onsan, Ulju County, Ulsan. The facility, covering about 215,000 square meters, will include plants for engine assembly and testing, crankshaft machining and engine block casting. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year, with operations starting in May 2028.

HD Hyundai plans to produce land-based power generation engines at the new plant and HD Hyundai Engine in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, while the existing Ulsan plant will focus on marine engines. Total HiMSEN engine production capacity is expected to increase from 3 GW annually to 7.2 GW by 2030.

The company will also invest 238.6 billion won in SMRs. It plans to build a dedicated plant for SMR main components at its Ulsan shipyard, with completion scheduled for the first half of 2029. HD Hyundai is also working with TerraPower to commercialize the Natrium next-generation SMR.

“We will secure core competitiveness in power generation engines and SMRs to respond to rapidly growing electricity demand and target the global AI infrastructure market,” an HD Hyundai Heavy Industries official said.

Hyundai Mobis is expanding its research and development (R&D) beyond automotive components into robotics. The company plans to apply its core technologies in electrification and software-defined vehicles (SDVs) to robotics and develop competitive products into items for global customers.

Hyundai Mobis said it is holding its 2026 R&D Tech Day at its technology research center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, through Sept. 18. The company is showcasing about 60 next-generation technologies in areas including electrification, electronics, chassis and safety, and infotainment. It is also displaying two types of actuators for robotics.

Hyundai Mobis selected 10 products with strong technological competitiveness as its “Hero” technologies. Its next-generation hybrid battery system, one of the key products, can accommodate pouch, prismatic and cylindrical battery cells. It also supports both liquid- and air-cooling systems.

The company also unveiled an integrated controller combining autonomous driving and advanced parking functions. By integrating long- and short-range sensors into a single controller, the system improves convenience and safety during low-speed driving and parking. Hyundai Mobis has also developed an airbag designed to protect passengers from rear impacts in purpose-built vehicles (PBVs) where the first- and second-row seats face each other.

Other technologies include a suspension system that enables U-turns within the width of two lanes, a four-wheel independent steering system and fire-resistant materials that prevent battery thermal propagation. Hyundai Mobis is also displaying infotainment technologies including its CES Innovation Award-winning holographic windshield display.

During the event, Hyundai Mobis will present the technologies to customers from North America and Asia and discuss potential orders and technology cooperation.

CK Solution is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) data center business with global energy management and automation company Schneider Electric. The company plans to broaden its data center capabilities by adding power and automation solutions to its existing HVAC and cooling business.

CK Solution said it signed an agreement to become an authorized distributor for Schneider Electric in Korea. CK Solution will supply Schneider Electric's AI data center solutions in the Korean market and provide technical support and services.

Schneider Electric offers power infrastructure and cooling solutions for data centers, including switchgear, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), transformers and automation systems. It also supplies software including digital twins and data center infrastructure management (DCIM) systems.

The company is also developing high-density power and cooling technologies for AI data centers with Nvidia and other major graphics processing unit (GPU) companies. It is also working with SK Telecom on the SK AI Data Center Ulsan project.

CK Solution has been expanding its data center business based on HVAC technology developed for semiconductor cleanrooms and battery dry rooms. After establishing a data center business division last year, it secured telecommunications and information and communications technology (ICT) companies as customers. It also partnered with LG Electronics in data center HVAC solutions.

The company has also been building its order backlog. In June, CK Solution signed a 9.2 billion won contract with Hanwha Systems to build data center cooling facilities and a building management system (BMS). The contract runs through March next year.

CK Solution plans to use the Schneider Electric distributor agreement to expand its data center business from cooling and HVAC into power infrastructure and automation. It aims to secure new customers by combining its design and construction experience with Schneider Electric's solutions.

LIG Defense & Aerospace (LIG D&A) discussed potential defense cooperation between Korea and Japan with former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

LIG D&A said Ishiba and a delegation including Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Mizushima visited the company's Pangyo House in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Sept. 9.

The delegation reviewed LIG D&A's key defense technologies, including precision-guided weapons such as the Cheongung-II, as well as surveillance and reconnaissance systems, avionics, and space and unmanned systems.

LIG D&A CEO Shin Ik-hyun and Ishiba's delegation also exchanged views on the security environment in Northeast Asia, security cooperation between Korea and Japan, and potential collaboration between the two countries' defense industries.

Standard Energy introduced its vanadium-ion battery (VIB)-based energy storage system (ESS) technology and production processes to officials from major European countries.

The company said more than 20 officials, including representatives from the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea and the French and German embassies, visited its Daejeon facility on Sept. 9. The visit was part of the 2026 INNOPOLIS-Europe Innovation Partnership Day program organized by the Innopolis Foundation.

Participants toured a VIB ESS demonstration site at KAIST's Munji Campus and Standard Energy's automated V-Line production line at its headquarters. They discussed the commercialization and production status of VIB ESS, as well as potential expansion and cooperation in Europe.

VIB is a non-lithium battery that uses a nonflammable aqueous electrolyte. Its fast charging and discharging capabilities and high power output make it suitable for applications including AI data centers, power grid stabilization and ultra-fast electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

"We will accelerate the commercialization of VIB technology by expanding cooperation in Korea and overseas," said Kim Sung-jin, vice president at Standard Energy.

LS ELECTRIC will jointly develop renewable energy projects in Korea with Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO).

LS ELECTRIC said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with KOMIPO on Sept. 9 to jointly identify and develop renewable energy projects in Korea.

The companies will cooperate on onshore wind, solar power and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects. Their partnership will cover the full project cycle, including identifying new projects, investment and financing, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), power equipment supply and power plant operations.

The companies will initially pursue onshore wind projects and later expand their cooperation into solar power and BESS. They will also consider using LS ELECTRIC's EPC services and equipment in jointly developed projects.

"We will enhance our competitiveness in renewable energy projects by combining the two companies' power generation and EPC capabilities," said Park Woo-bum, senior vice president and head of LS ELECTRIC's EA business division.