ABS joined Korean industry leaders in the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to produce a feasibility study for a near-shore floating platform of green H₂ production and liquefaction. ABS joins the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), part of HD Hyundai Group, Linde Korea and Linde PLC in the MoU.

The study is the latest in ABS’ pioneering work to support green H₂ production, which includes an approval in principle (AiP) for HD Hyundai Group’s offshore green H₂ production platform.

The Korean government is supporting commercial-scale production of green H₂, with the expectation of increasing energy self-efficiency. The feasibility study will be included in a report from the Jeolla Province to determine the viability of developing a green H₂ production and liquification facility at a near-shore floating platform utilizing off-shore wind-power.

“Green H₂ is a critical component in any net-zero scenario. ABS is leading the maritime industry in decarbonization and sustainability solutions, contributing our technical knowledge to develop comprehensive studies such as this one. We are proud to work with key partners to design a roadmap for the clean energy transition,” said Panos Koutsourakis, ABS Vice President, Global Sustainability.

“It is a great honor to be able to develop and commercialize the proposed technology through industry-university cooperation with Linde, the world's best company in the field of H₂ energy, HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, the world's best company in the field of offshore plants, and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a global leader in providing classification services for marine and offshore assets. We will strive to achieve this, and through this endeavor to create important value technically and economically,” said Euijoon Yoon, Ph.D., President of KENTECH.

Sungjoon Kim, HD Hyundai Group Chief Technology Officer, said, “HD Hyundai Group is pleased to contribute to the development of the green H₂ production platform through this MoU, utilizing our many years of experience with offshore platform technologies and liquefied gas carriers. HD Hyundai Group will play a key role in contributing to the carbon-neutral era such as the development of green H₂ production platforms.”

“The commercialization of floating platforms for clean H₂ production will increase Korea's energy independence and contribute to the clean energy transition,” said Baek-Suk Sung, CEO of Linde Korea.

“It is a valuable opportunity to develop a new concept green H₂ production and liquefaction platform jointly researched and developed with HD KSOE over the past year through an industry-academic project into commercialization technology with Linde, a company at the forefront of H₂ energy. Through this joint research and development with Linde, HD KSOE, and ABS, we will do our best so that the ‘near-shore floating green H₂ and liquefaction platform’ technology can be applied to the Shinan green H₂ energy island project in Jeollanam-do,” said Jihyun Hwang, Managing Director of Fraunhofer Innovation Platform, H₂ Energy at KENTECH.