SK Ecoplant, Korea South-East Power tap UAE as green energy base

SK Ecoplant Co., a South Korean construction engineering and waste management firm under SK Group, is accelerating a plan to set up a major green energy production facility in the Middle East in partnership with Korea South-East Power Co.

SK Ecoplant on Friday announced it signed an MOU with Korea South-East Power, a major Korean electricity producer, to jointly produce green hydrogen and green ammonia in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Under the agreement, SK Ecoplant will lead a feasibility study on building green hydrogen and green ammonia production infrastructure in an industrial park within the free economic zone of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital.

Korea South-East Power will provide necessary project support as it reviews whether to import green hydrogen and green ammonia from the UAE and Oman to produce electricity from its conventional power plants in Korea.

SK Ecoplant aims to produce 50,000 tons of green hydrogen and 250,000 tons of green ammonia annually with electricity generated at a solar power plant in the industrial park.

In July, SK Ecoplant discussed with a local UAE company tapping the country's potential green hydrogen and green ammonia business using renewable energy. It also signed an MOU with another local company that operates the port and terminals in the Abu Dhabi Free Zone Industrial Park.

Thanks to its abundant sunshine, Middle Eastern countries like the UAE and Oman are ideal places to produce electricity using solar energy.

These countries are also equipped with many ports and terminals, making it easy to ship and deliver green energy.   

Green hydrogen can be produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity. It is the only form of energy produced in a climate-neutral manner, making it critical for achieving net zero by 2050.

Green ammonia is ammonia produced through eco-friendly production processes such as using hydrogen from water electrolysis and nitrogen separated from the air.

SK Ecoplant, formerly SK Engineering & Construction Co., is working to transform itself from a construction enterprise into an eco-friendly energy company.

It is also betting big on the waste battery business, which extracts raw materials that can be recycled by disassembling end-of-life electric vehicle batteries.

Korea South-East Power generates and distributes electricity. It operates thermal power stations, pumped-storage power plants and combined cycle power plants across Korea.

Write to So-Hyeon Kim at alpha@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.