Taekyung Group to recycle brine water in Saudi Arabia

South Korea's Taekyung Group on Monday said it formed a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia's government-run Saline Water Conversion Corp. (SWCC) for a joint project using brine water and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology.

As the world's largest freshwater producer, the Arab country meets 50%-90% of each city's water use through desalination. SWCC Governor Abdullah Ibrahim Al Abdul-Karim, the official in charge of this, visited South Korea for talks with Taekyung Group Chairman Kim Hae-ryun on cooperation in new technologies.

Both sides discussed cooperation in CCUS and joint development of new business models. They also reportedly explored the possibility of applying the group's eco-friendly technology to Neom, a Saudi futuristic city under construction.

The project between Taekyung Group and Saudi Arabia is development of technology to extract high-purity calcium carbonate from cement waste using brine water from the desalination process. This approach is considered economically feasible in the advancement of carbon neutrality and development of new and renewable materials that reduce CO2.

"Joint related research has been underway with SWCC over the past two years," Chairman Kim said. "We've completed a domestic pilot plant and will demonstrate it next year in Saudi Arabia."

Write to Kyung Ju Kang at qurasoha@hankyung.com