VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and SEOUL, KOREA – Aug 1, 2023 – Loop Energy™ (TSX: LPEN), announces that its value-added distributor in South Korea – NGVI Inc., has secured a supply contract for a hydrogen electric bus project with a second municipality in the country – this time with the county of Ulju.
This marks Loop Energy’s second design win in South Korea in less than one year. Loop Energy’s quick expansion in the South Korean market is a strong validation for its products in the bus sector, following its first design win recently in 2022. It is also a strong signal of the South Korean market growth potential and accelerated demand for fuel cell adoption.
The two-year government project, led by KAR Co. Ltd. – a quickly growing hydrogen electric bus manufacturer, will see the hydrogen electric bus put into operation in Ulju-gun, located within the hydrogen hub of Ulsan in South Korea. The pilot bus is expected to complete in 2024.
With more design wins within the bus sector, Loop Energy is becoming a leading supplier in the hydrogen electric bus market, with the company anticipating demand to grow in near-term serviceable market opportunities across key markets of South Korea, Australia, and Europe.
Loop Energy and NGVI have a strong cooperating partnership to jointly pursue the South Korea market. The two companies first signed a memorandum of understanding in 2021 followed by a value-added distribution agreement in 2022, and then the first hydrogen electric bus fitted with Loop Energy fuel cells was launched in September 2022. The two companies are continuing to pursue other commercial opportunities in the country.
Loop Energy’s Chief Commercial Officer, George Rubin said, “Korea is advancing its electrification for buses at an accelerated pace. As a fuel cell company, having early design wins in the selection process is critical to gaining entry in the market and a key step towards scalability. By working closely with our partner NGVI, we have demonstrated an effective partnership to securing more fuel cell supply contracts in South Korea.”
“Following the success of launching our first hydrogen-electric bus platform in 2022, we are quickly expanding to work with Loop Energy to create vehicle platforms for other uses in South Korea,” said David Jung, Chief Executive Officer of NGVI. “By combining our local market knowledge and fuel systems expertise with Loop Energy’s plug-and-play fuel cell solutions, we are well positioned to capture the opportunities and meet the timelines of the many vehicle electrification projects that are coming online in Korea in the near future.”
South Korea has developed a roadmap to deploy 60,000 hydrogen-electric buses by 2040. The government is providing incentives for manufacturers to receive subsidies of up to 70% per battery-electric bus and up to 85% per hydrogen-electric bus, which will undoubtedly catalyze the production and transition timeline of zero-emissions buses, and accelerate the demand for hydrogen technology and fuel cell solutions.
About NGVI
NGVI (Next Generation Vehicles International) is a South-Korea based company specializing in the first compressed natural gas fuel storage and supply system modules. Founded in 2000, NGVI is an IATF 16949 certified company and provides 2,000 modules per year to its customers. In addition to natural gas vehicles, NGVI also assists with the design, development and manufacturing of fuel storage and supply systems for hydrogen vehicles and is planning to extend its services to other areas of transportation, including trains and ships. Visit www.ngvi.co.kr
About Loop Energy Inc.
Loop Energy™ is a leading designer and manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cell systems targeted for the electrification of commercial vehicles, including transit buses and medium to heavy-duty trucks. Loop Energy’s products feature the company’s proprietary eFlow™ technology in the fuel cell stack’s bipolar plates. eFlow™ technology enables commercial customers to achieve superior performance and higher fuel efficiency, delivering lower cost of ownership and shortest time to market. Loop Energy works closely with OEMs and major vehicle sub-system suppliers to enable the production of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. For more information about how Loop Energy is driving towards a zero-emissions future, visit www.loopenergy.com.
Forward Looking Warning
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflect management’s current expectations and projections regarding future events. Particularly, statements regarding the Company’s expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which we operate is forward-looking information, including without limitation, the ability of the Company’s eFlow™ technology to maintain uniform operation over time, the impact of such technology on fuel cell durability, purchase orders, cost reduction, profitability and revenue targets; our future growth prospects and business outlook including without limitation the expected demand for our products, the allocation of resources and funds, the expected timeline for profitability, the planned growth of our customer base and the expected growth of our operations globally. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions (including without limitation assumptions with respect the current and future performance of the Company’s products, growth in demand for the Company’s products, the Company’s ability to execute on its strategy, achieve its targets and progress existing and future customers through the Customer Adoption Cycle in a timely way, and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control and could cause actual results and events to vary materially from those that are disclosed, or implied, by such forward‐looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the realization of electrification of transportation and hydrogen adoption rates, the elimination of diesel fuel and ongoing government support of such developments, the expected growth in demand for fuel cells for the commercial transportation market, our ability to obtain future patent grants for our proprietary technology and the effectiveness of current and future patents in protecting our technology and the factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Information Form dated March 23, 2022. Loop Energy disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Source: Loop Energy Inc.
Loop Energy Sales Inquiries:
George Rubin | Tel: +1 604.222.3400 | solutions@loopenergy.com
Loop Energy Media Inquiries:
Ethan Hugh | Tel: +1.604.222.3400 ext. 304 | ethan.hugh@loopenergy.com
NGVI Business Inquiries:
David Jung | Tel: +82.33.260.3478 | david.jung@ngvi.co.kr