SK Innovation invests an extra $50 million in US clean energy firm Amogy

South Korea’s SK Innovation Co. has newly invested $50 million in Amogy Inc., a US ammonia-based power system developer, to expand its green business portfolio.

SK Innovation, Korea’s largest oil refiner and parent of battery maker SK On Co., said on Thursday it has participated in the $139 million Series B fundraising round for Amogy.

The round was led by SK Innovation, joined by other investors including Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, Saudi Aramco’s investment arm Aramco Ventures, British venture capital firm AP Ventures, Japan’s MOL PLUS and Korea Zinc Co.

Startup investments typically progress from Series A to support product development, Series B to fund business development and Series C for business and market expansion.

This round follows SK’s initial $30 million investment in the Brooklyn-based startup last July.

SK said its additional investment will strengthen their partnership, particularly in business expansion and commercialization of their technology in Asia and Oceania.

Under the business tie-up, SK will secure a core technology for reducing carbon emissions while Amogy will expand its business by leveraging SK’s global network, the companies said.

TO EXPAND CLEAN ENERGY SYSTEM TO SHIPS

With the latest fundraising, Amogy will be conducting tests to expand its clean energy system to ships.

“SK and Amogy share the view that ammonia is essential to ushering in an era of carbon-free clean energy. We will continue our R&D efforts to expand the ammonia-based power system market,” said SK Innovation Vice Chairman Kim Jun.

Earlier this year, Amogy successfully tested its ammonia-hydrogen power system for large-size semi trucks, proving that ammonia is a viable, sustainable energy source for heavy-duty trucking industries, which account for more than a fifth of total greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

Amogy said its technology enables the onboard cracking of ammonia into hydrogen, which is then sent directly into a fuel cell to power vehicles.

Liquid ammonia has an energy density that is about three times greater than compressed hydrogen. It requires significantly less energy, making it cost-effective to store and transport.

Founded in 2020 by four alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s doctoral program, Amogy specializes in building a portable carbon-free energy system using ammonia as a renewable fuel source.

The company said the system offers five times the energy density of a lithium-ion battery.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.