Czech-Korean Memorandum of Cooperation

SZÚ represented by its Director General, Ing. Tomáš Hruška, confirmed by his signature on 22 March 2024 the "Memorandum of Understanding and Mutual Cooperation". Other signatories of this international "triple agreement" were the Korean Hydrogen Fuel Cell Innovation Centre (WFRIC), represented by the Chairman of the Board and President of WFRIC, Hongki Lee, and the Czech Hydrogen Technology Platform (HYTEP), represented by Ales Douck, Chairman of the Board.

The Memorandum is an important symbol of the common commitment to strengthen and develop mutual relations, cooperation, sharing of resources and knowledge in the field of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

"We are excited about this strategic alliance between SZÚ, HYTEP and WFRIC. I strongly believe that this agreement opens up new opportunities for synergies and will strengthen our competitiveness and future activities in the dynamic environment of our own industry – the TIC sector (testing – inspection – certification). By sharing know-how at this level, I expect to be created innovative solutions that will lead to further progress in the field of hydrogen technology," said Mr. Tomáš Hruška, Director General of the SZÚ.

''Our platform welcomes the conclusion of the Memorandum of Cooperation on international standards, related certifications and technical cooperation on hydrogen technologies. Hydrogen technologies are a new sector generating high added value. The strategic link between the actors from the Czech Republic and South Korea will lead to improved awareness and deployment of hydrogen technologies, especially fuel cells in the Czech Republic. The area of technical standardisation is a key enabler for mass deployment of hydrogen technologies, we perceive that our sector is just at the beginning and there is still a long way to go before we see the full commercialisation that we have seen with other low emission technologies. This is why it is crucial to interact with actors in countries where hydrogen technologies have already seen greater deployment. I believe that the Memorandum will lead to the expansion of competences on the Czech Republic's side and South Korean actors will gain a strong partner for entering Europe,'' said Aleš Doucek, Chairman of the Board of the Czech Hydrogen Technology Platform (HYTEP).

„SZÚ of Czech Republic has been worldwide leading institute for conducting test and certification for various hydrogen products such as hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen co-fired boilers. Mutual exchanges have already taken place through SZU KOREA. Woosuk University is a university specialized in hydrogen technology. This MOU is a good opportunity to ensure mutual information exchange and approach to globalization on hydrogen technology. In addition, both organizations expect that this will be of great help in nurturing human resources and further growing the hydrogen-related industry by securing specialized technology in the field of performance evaluation and safety certification inspection of hydrogen products,“ stated prof. Hongki Lee, Chairman of the WFRIC.

Photo: Martin Malý. Video: TZB-info/ Estav.tv