SK Gas-Lotte Chemical Establish Joint Venture for Hydrogen Refueling Station Business

Start of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant Project
Establish Joint Venture Within the Year to Build Hydrogen Value Chain Business
Lotte Chemical Produces Byproduct Hydrogen... SK Gas Provides Infrastructure

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Gas and Lotte Chemical have joined forces to create a domestic hydrogen ecosystem.

On the 31st, SK Gas and Lotte Chemical held a business agreement ceremony at the SK Gas headquarters to jointly promote hydrogen businesses such as hydrogen charging stations by establishing a joint venture (JV) within this year.

Through this business agreement, the two companies will start projects for building gaseous hydrogen charging stations and hydrogen fuel cell power plants by leveraging their resources and capabilities. They plan to expand their cooperation system in the future to establish a business model covering the entire hydrogen value chain, including supplying liquefied hydrogen produced using LNG cold energy.

After establishing the JV, SK Gas and Lotte Chemical will conduct projects based on by-product hydrogen in the Ulsan region. By-product hydrogen mainly occurs as a byproduct in petrochemical processes, and it plays a key role in creating the initial hydrogen ecosystem due to its low carbon dioxide emissions during production and high economic feasibility. It will serve as a foundation for expanding the business into blue hydrogen and green hydrogen through future demand and infrastructure growth. Currently, SK Gas produces low-carbon by-product hydrogen at its affiliate SK Advanced located in Ulsan, and Lotte Chemical produces it at three domestic production sites (Yeosu, Daesan, Ulsan).

The JV, scheduled to be established this year, will start businesses such as hydrogen charging stations and hydrogen fuel cell power plants to create demand for the secured by-product hydrogen. The hydrogen charging station business plans to utilize SK Gas’s infrastructure, which already includes an LPG charging station network, as well as Lotte’s logistics and site resources. Subsequently, the JV plans to expand the business by supplying liquefied hydrogen and gradually build about 100 hydrogen charging stations.

The hydrogen fuel cell power plant business is expected to be promoted by utilizing the subsidiaries and resources of both companies located in Ulsan. The Ulsan region already has a well-established hydrogen pipeline, which has the advantage of not requiring separate sites for building hydrogen pipeline networks. In particular, SK Gas is already conducting a fuel cell power plant business in Gwangju Metropolitan City, and this experience is expected to create significant synergy.

Yoon Byung-seok, CEO of SK Gas, stated, "We will continue to lead the establishment of the hydrogen ecosystem through collaboration with various partners and complete a stable yet future-oriented business portfolio by linking the existing LPG business with LNG and hydrogen businesses."

Kim Kyo-hyun, Head of the Chemical BU at Lotte Chemical, said, "We expect to lead the eco-friendly hydrogen market in the future by taking the initiative in forming the early ecosystem of the hydrogen industry, which will be a core axis of future energy growth, and by collaborating on various challenges."

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