Hyundai, OCI partner on recycled EV batteries

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor aims to become a major force in the global renewable energy industry by marketing energy storage systems (ESS) made from recycled electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The company signed a preliminary agreement with Seoul-based OCI, which makes chemicals and builds solar power stations, to jointly find ways to pair Hyundai's ESS products with renewable energy projects. Hyundai said the joint venture will also develop a distributed power business model that employs its ESS technology.

The venture will start out by installing Hyundai Motor ESS units at OCI solar farms in Texas and South Korea to prove the feasibility of its systems. Connecting solar arrays to ESS allows power producers to mitigate the intermittency of renewable energy sources by storing electricity generated during sunny off hours for use during peak demand hours.

The initiative is part of Hyundai's effort to create a "virtuous cycle" of environmentally friendly resources — from developing EVs to recycling their retired batteries for use in ESS units. Commercialising ESS units made from EV batteries solves the issue of how to dispose of old power packs while employing them in an environmentally beneficial way, Hyundai said.

The recycling issue will become more pressing for EV makers as sales volumes surge and cars begin to be retired on a large scale. Hyundai's Kia and Hyundai auto brands sold nearly 45,000 EVs in this year's first half, more than doubling their pace of more than 18,000 at 2018's midpoint.

Hyundai earlier this year signed an agreement with local, provincial and national governments in Jeju, South Korea, to establish a battery recycling system.

The company last year created a strategic partnership with Finland's Wartsila to accelerate development of ESS units made from recycled batteries. Hyundai finished building such a system, boasting 1MW of capacity, at a Hyundai Steel plant last December.