SK Ecoplant, an environmental and energy company, will participate as a key player in the global cross-continent super-large green H₂ commercialization project with the green H₂ value chain at the forefront.

On the 17th, SK Eco Plant signed an investment agreement with Canada's World Energy GH₂ to participate in the 'Nujio'qonik Green H₂ Phase 1 Project' worth $4.5 B at Lotte Hotel Seoul, Jung-gu, Seoul. said it did World Energy GH₂ is developing a large-scale green H₂ project based in the Stevenville area of ​​Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

This agreement is attracting attention in that it is a large-scale achievement achieved after SK Ecoplant transformed into an environment and energy company in line with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won's order for fundamental innovation in business models (BMs) for each member company several years ago.

The signing ceremony was attended by SK Ecoplant President Park Kyung-il, World Energy GH₂ Chairman John Risley, World Energy GH₂ CEO Sean Leet, and other executives and staff members.

This project will be carried out on the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in eastern Canada. It is a business that decomposes water with electricity produced through wind power generation to extract green H₂ without carbon emission, converts it into green ammonia, and transports it to other continents such as Europe.

The project name New Geohonic means 'Where the sand blows' in the Aboriginal language. It is proof that the island of Newfoundland has traditionally been a place with good wind quality, and it is the reason why the project site is evaluated as the best place for wind power generation. The island of Newfoundland is located at the easternmost point of Canada, making it an easy location for exporting green ammonia to other continents including Europe.

Among the projects that are divided into three phases, the first phase of the project will be carried out on a scale of $4.5 B. A total of 600 MW will be built, including onshore wind power generation of about 1 GW for electricity production, solid oxide water electrolyzer (SOEC) and polymer electrolyte water electrolyzer (PEMEC) for green H₂ production. A green ammonia plant, which converts 60,000 tpy of green H₂ produced here into about 360,000 tons of ammonia, will also be built. Green H₂ production is targeted for March 2025, and green ammonia production is targeted for March 2026.

SK Ecoplant secured an exclusive order opportunity worth about $1.5 B in this project. Supply and install water electrolyzers for green H₂ production, including front-end engineering design (FEED) of the entire project. Within this month, SK Ecoplant plans to begin the pre-FEED process, which is a pre-project procedure, and objectively review the entire framework of the project. Discussions on participating in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a wind power plant are also underway. The plant EPC for converting green H₂ into green ammonia will be taken over by SK Eco Engineering, a subsidiary company.

Through this agreement, SK Ecoplant secured a 20% stake in the project for business development and secured an exclusive opportunity for EPC orders, becoming a key player in the green H₂ business and putting its name on a super-large intercontinental project. According to this agreement, SK Eco Plant will invest $50 MM to participate in business development and will take charge of the water electrolysis cycle and green ammonia plant EPC in the future, carrying out the entire process of the green H₂ business.

Green ammonia produced based on green H₂ is exported to countries in Europe including Germany. The leaders of Canada and Germany signed a H₂ Alliance in August last year with the goal of establishing a H₂ supply chain across the Atlantic Ocean. As agreements between countries are in the background, the project is expected to accelerate. There are also expectations that it will be a major project to realize the global H₂ ecosystem early in that it carries out not only the production and storage of renewable energy-based green H₂, but also the transfer between North America and Europe through conversion of green ammonia.

Ammonia (NH₃), a compound in which three H₂ atoms and one nitrogen are combined, has a simple manufacturing process and is easily liquefied at room temperature, drawing attention as a H₂ storage and carrier. The storage capacity per unit volume is about 1.7 times greater than that of liquid H₂. As general ammonia is already used in many countries for industrial and agricultural purposes, it is also an advantage that it can be distributed using the existing storage and transportation infrastructure.

The Bloom Energy water electrolyzer (SOEC) supplied for this project is a water electrolysis method that utilizes high-temperature water vapor reaching 850°C. Since thermal energy replaces part of the electrical energy consumed to extract H₂ from water, less electrical energy is consumed, resulting in higher H₂ production efficiency. SK Eco Plant and Bloom Energy are also planning to further reduce energy consumption required for green H₂ production by recycling the heat generated in the ammonia synthesis process, which is expected to secure price competitiveness.

World Energy GH 2, the project organizer, has already secured a business site and is in the process of pre-approval with the goal of starting production of green H₂ and green ammonia in 2025 and 2026, respectively. In the future, it is scheduled to build its own infrastructure, from wind power generators to water electrolysis and ammonia synthesis plants and port shipping facilities.

It is interpreted that the green H₂ water electrolysis and engineering capabilities accumulated so far had a decisive effect on SK Eco Plant's winning this project. SK Ecoplant has already completed the green H₂ value chain, from renewable energy such as wind power to water electrolysis using SOEC. It is also representative of the wind power generation field, such as the 2.6-GW offshore wind power business being developed with global offshore wind power development companies and its subsidiary SK Ocean Plant, a global top-tier substructure company. Based on this representativeness, Park Kyung-il, president of SK Eco Plant, was also appointed as the chairman of the Korea Wind Power Industry Association last month. Through this project, SK Ecoplant plans to strengthen its SOEC-based green H₂ commercial production capacity and continue to lead the global green H₂ and water electrolysis market.

Park Kyung-il, CEO of SK Ecoplant, said, “As we participated in the first cross-continental green H₂ commercialization project in Korea, we are in an advantageous position to secure more business opportunities in the future. Based on this, we will solidify our position as a leading global green H₂ and green ammonia company in the future.”