Korea Zinc ties up with SK, Hanwha for Aussie green ammonia

Korea Zinc Inc., the world’s largest lead and zinc smelter, has joined hands with SK Gas Ltd. and Hanwha Impact Corp. for the green ammonia business in Australia.

Korea Zinc and its Australian subsidiary Ark Energy Corp. on Thursday signed a deal with those South Korean companies to form a consortium considering shipments of more than 1 million tons of green ammonia a year from 2030 to the Northeast Asian country from the Oceanian nation.

Ark handles the clean energy sector in Australia where Korea Zinc mainly operates its renewable resources and green hydrogen business.

Ark is working on a demonstration project to replace diesel through hydrogen commercial mobility. Based on the project, the renewable energy company plans to build large green hydrogen and green ammonia production facilities with a maximum power generation capacity of 4,000 megawatts in North Queensland.

“North Queensland is likely to become a global green hydrogen production and export base,” said Ark CEO Daniel Kim. “To realize the potential, we will closely cooperate with key stakeholders and work with partners with great responsibility to vitalize the hydrogen economy.”

BEYOND NON-FERROUS METAL SMELTING BUSINESS

Korea Zinc is taking steps to establish a complex to produce large green hydrogen and convert it into ammonia for easier transportation based on its renewable energy assets of 9 gigawatts in Australia.

The move is expected to contribute to South Korea’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and improve the country’s energy security with the hydrogen economy, the company said.

“We hope sustained cooperation with consortium partners will materialize alongside Australia’s potential as a green ammonia producer and exporter,” said Korea Zinc President and Co-CEO Park Ki-Deok.

Korea Zinc last year unveiled plans to invest $7.5 billion in renewable energy, green hydrogen and battery materials until 2030 to expand its business beyond non-ferrous metal smelting.

Write to Mi-Sun Kang at misunny@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.