SK E&S, Plug Power agree to strengthen hydrogen partnership

SK E&S CEO Choo Hyung-wook met with Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh at CES 2023 in Las Vegas on Jan. 5 to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in the hydrogen business, SK E&S said on Tuesday.

Plug Power is a hydrogen fuel cell systems developer that specializes in the production, storage, and utilization of green hydrogen.

It accounts for 95% of the hydrogen fuel cell market for forklifts in the US and is also a global leader in the field of manufacturing electrolytic tank facilities and hydrogen liquefaction systems.

In early 2021, SK E&S became the largest shareholder of Plug Power by investing about 1.8 trillion won ($1.44 billion) along with its parent company SK Inc.

In January last year, the two SK companies set up a joint venture SK Plug Hyverse and are jointly promoting the hydrogen business in the Asian market.

This year, SK E&S will launch the commercial operation of its liquid hydrogen plant in Incheon with a capacity of up to 30,000 tons and SK Plug Hyverse will build liquefied hydrogen charging stations near major markets to supply liquefied hydrogen to be produced by SK E&S.

In addition, the two CEOs agreed to carry out a construction project of Incheon Giga-factory, a core hydrogen production base, as scheduled.

Starting next year, SK Plug Hyverse aims to have a mass-production system of hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysis tank facilities and supply them to domestic and Asian markets.

Write to Seo-woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com