S.Korea’s four firms to develop domestic tech for carbon capture

South Korea's shipbuilding and shipping companies, including HMM Co., Samsung Heavy Industries, marine equipment manufacturer Panasia and the ship inspection agency Korean Register of Shipping, are collaborating on a joint research project to capture carbon emitted from ships. This is the first demonstration of domestic technology to capture carbon emissions from ships.

The companies announced on Friday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding for onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) demo research. According to the agreement, the four organizations plan to install their proprietary OCCS equipment on a 2,100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container ship operated by HMM within this year. This is a high-capacity equipment that captures 24 tons of carbon dioxide per day and stores it in liquid form.

Samsung Heavy Industries and Panasia will be responsible for design, production, installation and commissioning, while HMM will operate the equipment. The Korean Register of Shipping will evaluate the risks of the ship.

During the demo period, the captured carbon dioxide from the container ship will be applied to smart farms on land or used for dry ice production. Samsung Heavy Industries and Panasia plan to commercialize OCCS after the demonstration to enhance their technological competitiveness.

HMM and Samsung Heavy Industries plan to expand OCCS to comply with the carbon intensity indicator rating system, which was implemented by the International Maritime Organization this year.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com