[Courtesy of SK E&S]
SEOUL -- SK E&S, an energy company affiliated with SK Group, joined hands with General Electric to establish a blue hydrogen ecosystem that can produce, distribute, and utilize 250,000 tons of eco-friendly hydrogen in South Korea. Blue hydrogen is favored by industries because of its reasonable production cost compared to green hydrogen based on renewable energy.
Green hydrogen uses electrolysis to split water and release only hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen produced by steam reforming is called grey hydrogen, which is the most common form and is generated from natural gas, or methane. Blue hydrogen is produced using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology which is used to capture and store CO2 generated during the hydrogen production process.
SK E&S will produce blue hydrogen using CCS technology starting in 2026 and distribute them to clients in South Korea. General Electric will manufacture hydrogen-blended gas turbines and provide them to South Korean companies. Using General Electric's products, domestic firms can use turbines with a higher proportion of hydrogen compared to conventional products which mainly used liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The tie-up was announced at a clean energy partnership event hosted by South Korea's industry ministry during President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the United States. The project also involves HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the holding company of HD Hyundai, and Plug Power, an American provider of hydrogen fuel cell turnkey solutions.
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering will build a 40,000 cubit-meter-wide liquefied carbon dioxide carrier capable of transporting CO2 collected during the production of blue hydrogen. Collected CO2 could be used in various ways such as manufacturing plastic and semiconductors.
Through a joint venture with SK E&S, Plug Power aims to build a large-scale plant that can produce fuel cells and water electrolysis facilities in the western city of Incheon. The U.S. firm will use fuel cells for eco-friendly hydrogen power generation.
reporter
Kim Joo-heon
jhkim123@ajunews.com
