Korea-Saudi, Green Hydrogen, etc. to Strengthen Cooperation in the Supply Chain of Clean Hydrogen

[월간수소경제 박상우 기자] Korean companies such as KEPCO, POSCO, Samsung C&T, and S-OIL have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the clean hydrogen supply chain with Saudi Aramco and the sovereign wealth fund (PIF).

On the 18th (local time), the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and KOTRA held the Korea-Saudi Smart Innovation Growth Forum with the Saudi Chamber of Commerce and Industry as part of President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Saudi Arabia.

Based on the successful Korea-Saudi Vision 2030 cooperation, this event was prepared to expand the base of economic cooperation between the companies of the two countries by discovering new cooperative projects between Korea and Saudi Arabia in response to recent environmental changes such as post-coronavirus and climate change response.

In particular, we have established a partnership for carbon neutrality with Korea’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, through cooperation across the entire hydrogen economy, including hydrogen production, distribution, and utilization. It has the significance of opening a horizon.

The event was attended by Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Seung-wook, Hyundai Motor Company President Gong Young-woon (Chairman of Korea-Saudi economic cooperation), SK Discovery Vice Chairman Choi Chang-won, Samsung C&T CEO Oh Se-cheol (construction), S-Oil CEO Hussein Al-Qahtani, and Bioneer CEO Park Han-oh. About 60 people attended, including the director, Jeong Seung-il, president of Korea Electric Power Corporation, and Moon Jae-do, chairman of the Hydrogen Alliance (H2KOREA).

On the Saudi side, including Investment Minister Khalid al-Faleh, Energy Minister Abdul-Aziz, Commerce Minister Al-Kasabi, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Al-Korayev, Ajlan bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Azlan Chairman of the Saudi Awards, and Yasir Osman al-Rumayan Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund ( About 60 key government figures and business people attended, including PIF) President and Aramco Chairman and Abdullera Abdullah Abunayan Shaker Group Chairman.

In his keynote speech, President Moon Jae-in, who attended the event, said, “Saudi Arabia, which has the potential to produce clean hydrogen such as green and blue hydrogen, and Korea, which have strengths in the field of hydrogen utilization based on world-class hydrogen vehicle and fuel cell technology, complement each other. The two countries should work closely together so that they can lead the global hydrogen economy through a friendly relationship.”

Next, he evaluated Neom City, which is being promoted under the leadership of the Saudi Crown Prince, as a futuristic city development project that combines cutting-edge technology and eco-friendly energy. said.

In 2019, the Saudi government announced that it plans to build a facility that produces and exports 650 tons of green hydrogen per day using 4GW of renewable energy in Neom City by investing $5 billion in a joint venture with Air Products of the United States.

At this forum, contracts and MOUs between related companies in hydrogen and energy fields, new industries and infrastructure fields were also concluded.

The two governments signed an MOU on hydrogen economy cooperation on the occasion of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s visit to Korea in June 2019, and agreed to cooperate in the entire cycle of hydrogen production, storage, transportation and utilization.

Based on such intergovernmental cooperation, at this forum, domestic companies such as KEPCO, POSCO, Samsung C&T, and S-OIL produced clean hydrogen such as green and blue hydrogen in Saudi Arabia with Saudi Aramco and the sovereign wealth fund (PIF) and introduced the supply chain to Korea. agreed to strengthen cooperation. Afterwards, the two companies plan to conduct a project feasibility study through cooperation.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) cooperated with Aramco for hydrogen and ammonia, POSCO and Samsung C&T for joint development and project feasibility study with PIF, and Hydrogen Fusion Alliance with Aramco for information sharing and cooperation system related to hydrogen, and cooperation to build a hydrogen supply network. , S-Oil signed a memorandum of understanding with Aramco for hydrogen supply chain cooperation, and Hyundai Oilbank signed a memorandum of understanding with Aramco for blue ammonia and blue hydrogen commercialization.

Saudi Arabia has recently declared a vision of producing 4 million tons of hydrogen by 2030 with the goal of becoming the world’s largest hydrogen exporter, and is promoting various projects for the transformation of the hydrogen economy. This is expected to accelerate further.