SK Group, Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, will cooperate with the state-sponsored Korean Electronics Technology Institute to develop electricity storage technology and secondary batteries, it said.

The two firms, under the memorandum of understanding they signed Tuesday, will share their knowledge, human resources and networks to develop batteries and energy storage technology which will be crucial for electric vehicles and high-tech mobile devices, they said.

“By working with the KETI, we plan to develop an energy storage technology which hold global competitiveness and thus enable us to preoccupy the international market,” SK Technology Innovation Center president Park Sang-hoon said. 

SK has become a leading player in secondary batteries, having succeeded in inventing a lithium-ion battery with its original technology to manufacture lithium-ion battery separators in 2004. The group has been chosen as the supplier for Hyundai Motor’s BlueOn, the country’s first full-speed electric car, as well as its follow-up models.

The KETI also expected that the strategic ties between a private firm and a research institute will become a new “role model” for raising Korea’s national competitiveness in energy storage.

By Koh Young-aah (youngaah@heraldnm.com)