Expansion of Hydrogen Forklift Supply in Gwangyang City: Doosan Bobcat Signs MOU

Doosan Bobcat, the first company to commercialize hydrogen forklifts in South Korea, is now embarking on an effort to expand the reach of hydrogen mobility.

On November 13th, Doosan Bobcat announced that it had signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Gwangyang City and Korea Logis Pool (KLP) to collaborate on the “Gwangyang Hydrogen City Project” and expand the supply of hydrogen forklifts.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport selected Gwangyang City last year as a Hydrogen City. The Hydrogen City Project plan for Gwangyang encompasses a hydrogen forklift supply initiative, and through this MOU, Gwangyang City, Doosan Bobcat, and KLP will collaborate on the initiative.

Gwangyang City will support administrative permits, infrastructure construction and operations, while Doosan Bobcat will handle the supply, provide information, develop demand for hydrogen forklifts, and proceed with hydrogen charging demonstrations. KLP, the country’s largest forklift rental and comprehensive logistics company, will deploy Doosan Bobcat’s hydrogen forklifts at the logistics centers in the Gwangyang Port back regions and develop rental services for hydrogen forklifts.

At the signing ceremony held on the 12th, Kim Sangchul, Executive Vice President of Sales for ALAO at Doosan Bobcat Korea, said, “We are delighted to contribute to the government’s carbon-neutral policy and the activation of the hydrogen economy as a partner of the Gwangyang Hydrogen City Project,” adding, “We will continue to work hard to expand the base of hydrogen mobility.”

In August, Doosan Bobcat delivered the first domestic hydrogen forklift to Korea Zinc’s Onsan refinery, which received special case clearance for forklift hydrogen refueling stations. Since this milestone, the company has been working to gradually expand the supply of hydrogen forklifts.

Doosan Bobcat is also actively pursuing regulatory reforms regarding hydrogen forklifts. The project to ‘establish and operate dedicated hydrogen refueling stations for hydrogen fuel cell forklifts,’ for which the company applied for a regulatory exemption, received approval from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy last month. Consequently, Doosan Bobcat plans to conduct demonstrations using fixed and mobile hydrogen refueling stations for hydrogen forklifts, which are currently limited to use for hydrogen cars.