SK Innovation-SK Energy Join EU CCS Project... Leading the Way in Decarbonization

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Innovation and SK Energy are taking the lead in realizing decarbonization by participating in research collaboration for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology under the European Union (EU). SK Innovation and SK Energy signed a Collaboration Agreement contract on the 25th of last month to participate in the EU REALISE project, worth 7 million euros (approximately 9.3 billion KRW), led by the Norwegian national research institute SINTEF.

The REALISE project aims to verify CCS in the refining industry, develop economic evaluation tools, and collaborate on liquid CO2 absorbent technology development. SK Innovation and SK Energy are participating from February 25, 2021, to April 30, 2023, alongside 14 EU industry-academic-research institutions including SINTEF, Equinor, TNO, the University of Edinburgh, as well as two Chinese institutions, Tsinghua University and Dunhua Oil.

CCS prevents carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuel-based industries from being released into the atmosphere, enabling substantial carbon emission reductions. Given the high energy consumption characteristics of refining processes, CCS is the only viable method for reducing greenhouse gases, and extensive research is ongoing worldwide.

Among methods to remove CO2 emitted during processes, the liquid absorbent method selectively captures CO2 using liquid absorbents and is relatively cost-effective. Through this project, research and development will be conducted to further reduce capture costs and improve CO2 absorption rates.

SK Innovation and SK Energy expect that participation in this project will allow them to secure CCS research results and global insights, as well as explore opportunities to enter overseas CCS business markets.

By providing emission gas and utility cost information for each process at SK Innovation’s Ulsan Complex (Ulsan CLX), research will be conducted on CO2 capture costs per process and transportation costs via pipelines and ships. Based on analysis results of liquid CO2 absorbents and economic evaluations of CCS in refineries, further collaboration with global CCS project partners is anticipated.

SK Innovation and SK Energy explained that this will enable them to ▲secure capabilities for developing next-generation CO2 absorbents in refineries ▲acquire simulation tools for verifying next-generation wet CO2 technologies ▲and enter overseas markets through independent CCS economic evaluation capabilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.