Hyundai Oilbank Accelerates Hydrogen Business with Air Products

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Hyundai Oilbank announced on the 6th that it signed a "Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Cooperation on the Utilization of Hydrogen Energy" with global hydrogen company Air Products at its Seoul office located in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The signing ceremony was attended by Hyundai Oilbank CEO Kang Dal-ho and Air Products Korea CEO Kim Gyo-young, along with other representatives from both companies.

Air Products is the world's largest hydrogen producer headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA. It possesses core technologies capable of producing hydrogen from various raw materials such as natural gas and petroleum refining by-products, as well as expertise in plant operations and technologies related to hydrogen liquefaction, storage, and transportation.

Hyundai Oilbank, which has selected blue hydrogen, white bio, and eco-friendly chemical and materials businesses as its three major eco-friendly future industries, plans to produce and sell 100,000 tons of blue hydrogen by 2025.

Blue hydrogen is an eco-friendly energy source from which carbon generated during the conversion of fossil fuels into hydrogen is removed. Since the cattle processing process incurs significant costs, commercialization requires lowering hydrogen production costs and establishing carbon utilization methods.

Hyundai Oilbank plans to secure cost competitiveness by producing hydrogen using Air Products' advanced manufacturing technology with inexpensive petroleum by-products and directly imported natural gas.

The produced hydrogen will be supplied as fuel for automobiles and power generation, while carbon will be recycled into resources such as calcium carbonate, dry ice, and fertilizers through separate facilities as eco-friendly building materials.

Both companies will also collaborate to develop green hydrogen business models. Green hydrogen is a dream energy source that emits no carbon by using renewable energy during the manufacturing process.

Since July last year, Air Products has been conducting the "NEOM Project" in Saudi Arabia, producing ammonia using solar and wind power.

Ammonia, composed of nitrogen and hydrogen, converts into hydrogen without carbon emissions during decomposition. Hyundai Oilbank plans to actively consider green hydrogen business utilizing ammonia.

Kang Dal-ho, CEO of Hyundai Oilbank, emphasized, "We plan to reduce the refining business sales ratio, currently at 85%, to the 40% range by 2030," adding, "We will also increase the operating profit ratio of the three future businesses, including blue hydrogen, to around 70%, transforming into an eco-friendly energy business platform."

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