100% Green Hydrogen Powered Ferry Planned by 2027

Natasa Mulahalilovic
Natasa Mulahalilovic

The European Union’s private and public sectors are working hard on developing projects that could accelerate the transition from the fossil fuel powered to the zero-emission shipping.

One of the leading joint efforts is the project created by Danish ferry operator DFDS, Swiss-Sweden giant ABB, Danish fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems Europe, the global leader in zero-emission e-mobility Hexagon Purus, wind power generator Orsted, Lloyds Register and Danish Ship Finance. 

The project is designed to build a 100% green hydrogen powered ferry by 2027.

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Near Term Recession Fears Recede in North America

SUMMARY.  The North American economy remained stable in 2019 and pure economic conditions as well as fundamentals in the region were favorable. Most industries performed very well, and the short-term outlook remains stable to flat for most market segments. However, we see many new developments that could suggest a shift in the trend.

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

Consumer confidence declined slightly in December, following a moderate increase in November.  The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index stood at 126.5 in December, 1.4 points higher than in September 2019. 

Per Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “While consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved, their expectations declined, driven primarily by a softening in their short-term outlook regarding jobs and financial prospects. While the economy hasn’t shown signs of further weakening, there is little to suggest that growth, and in particular consumer spending, will gain momentum in early 2020.”

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PowerTALK™ News, October 2020

The October issue of PowerTALK News includes stories on alternative-powered vehicles, including electric-powered tankers, a solar trailer, robotic lawn mowers and Tesla car operations in China.

  • Global: Opportunities and Challenges
  • NA: Bus Conversions
  • NA: Robot Mowers
  • DataPoint: US Shredders
  • EU: Scania Develops Solar Trailer
  • SA: HVO Set in Brazil
  • SA: Brazil Trade Pacts
  • SA: IVECO Sells NG Trucks
  • China: Tesla Cuts Prices
  • Japan: Kawasaki To Build Electric Ship
  • Japan: Yanmar Sets Data Program
  • S. Korea: Hyundai Adds Luxury Features
  • India: Daimler Adds Dealers
  • India: Tractor Sales Jump
  • Russia: Ford Restarts Plant
  • Russia: BelAZ Dump Trucks?
  • Russia: Hyundai Cuts Production

2021 Global Economic Outlook

Yosyf Sheremeta, PhD, Director of Product Management and Customer Experience, analyzes the Global economic outlook by region and industry segment.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast, produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 Joe Delmont

From Power Systems Research I’m Joe Delmont, an editor of PSR PowerTALK.

Today we’ll talk with Yosyf Sheremeta about his global economic outlook. Yosyf is Director of Product Management and Customer Experience for Power Systems Research.

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JAPAN REPORT: The Impact of COVID-19 on Manufacturers

Japanese OEMs are struggling to adapt to the COVID-19 problem. Plants are being temporarily shut down and production adjustments are being made.

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

While domestic plants are generally operating quietly, overseas bases are being affected in various ways, depending on the country. Here is a summary of announcements by the major companies.

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LG Chem To Build Plant for Auto Battery Materials in Korea

FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT

LG Chem says it will build a cathode material plant for automotive battery materials in Gumi, central South Korea. LG Chem has the second largest automotive battery business in the world. They will continue to invest in increasing production in the materials field to meet the increasing demand and plans to start mass production by 2025 and will build a dedicated line for cathode materials with high nickel content, called NCMA, which can increase the output of batteries.

LG Chem’s new plant will be its fourth; it has two cathode material plants in operation in Korea and one in China. The current production capacity is 80,000 tons. LG Chemical produces its own cathode materials, separation membranes, and adhesives, and supplies them to LG Energy Solution, its battery subsidiary. LG Chem is working with Toray Industries, Inc. to secure the amount of separation membrane to be procured.

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South Korea’s SK and LG to Build EV Battery Plant in the U.S. Joint Venture in the Gap between U.S.-China Conflict

South Korean automotive battery giants are moving into the U.S. market, with SK Innovation teaming up with Ford and LG Chemical with GM to promote the construction of an automotive battery plant. SK plans to invest about 300 billion yen in the plant to produce 22 gigawatt-hours of automotive batteries, enough to power 220,000 EVs a year, and in a joint venture with Ford, the two companies will invest 600 billion yen to build a giant 60-gigawatt plant.

SK’s annual production capacity as of 2019 is only 5 gigabytes at its Korean plant. The capacity is expected to increase to 30 gigawatts in 2020 with the launch of plants in China and Hungary, to 85 gigawatts in 2023 with the addition of the US plant, and to exceed 185 gigawatts in 2025 with the addition of the joint venture with Ford. SK, a late entrant to the market, ranks sixth with a 5% share of the global market in 2020.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA: THAILAND, INDONESIA REPORT

Thailand May Become New Car Sales Leader in 2019

New car sales from January to June in six major countries in Southeast Asia were 1.7 million, unchanged from the same period of the previous year.

Thailand and Indonesia are the two major markets. Thailand, where consumption is strong, increased by 7% year-on-year, while Indonesia, which faces a decline in resource prices, decreased by 13%. Thailand could be ranked first this year for the first time in six years.

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PowerTALK™ News, February 2021

Chris Fisher, senior commercial vehicle analyst at Power Systems Research, provides a forecast in the February 2021 issue of PowerTALK™ News for MHV. Here are more articles in this issue:

  • Power Systems Research Webinar Series
  • North America
    • Truck News: Ask The Expert
    • Electric Motorcycles
  • DataPoint: Global Snowmobiles
  • Europe: Volvo Penta Plans Zero Emissions
  • South America
    • COVID-19 Cuts Brazil MC Production
    •  Brazil Vehicle Exports Up 22%
  • Taiwan: Innovation Powers Gorgoro Network
  • Japan: Honda Launches Electric Bike
  • South Korea: Hyundai Offers Custom EVs
  • Indonesia: New Tesla Investment?
  • India: Union 2021 Budget Misses Mark
  • Russia
    • TMH Purchases RR Plant
    • Haval Recalls Cars
    • KAMAZ Plans EV Buses

PowerTracker™ Report Q2 2020: Coronavirus Generates its Own Demand

SUMMARY: Gen-set sales in Q2 2020 rose 4.5% from Q1 2020, due to the combination of a halting recovery from the coronavirus shutdowns and new demand generated by COVID-19. While “normal” demand for generators is still weak, evidenced by continuing declines in the power ranges above 50kW, it is being offset by new demand in the power ranges below 50kW. These changes were directionally consistent across fuel types.

Looking by application, Portables and Standbys were slightly positive, while Temporary, Peak Shaving, Baseload, and Cogeneration were all negative by double digits compared to Q1 2020. This translated into a 5% increase in sales to Private consumers, and about 6% decreases in Institutional and Industrial sales.

On a Year-on-Year basis, overall unit sales for Q2 2020 were up 1% compared to sales levels in Q2 2019, with Q1 2020 having almost completely wiped out the gains earned in Q3 2020 of last year.

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