Monolith Invested by SK Inc. Secures $10.8 Billion Clean Energy Loan from U.S. Government... Largest Single Company in Hydrogen Sector

The first green hydrogen production facility in Monolith, located in the state of Nebraska

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] SK Inc. announced on the 24th that Monolith, the world's first turquoise hydrogen production company in which it invested last March, has obtained approval for a clean energy loan worth $1.04 billion (approximately 1.2 trillion KRW) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The DOE is the department responsible for overseeing the U.S. government's energy policy. The DOE's clean energy loan program is a financial system operated to support clean energy-related technologies that contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It was first implemented in 2005 and has a budget of about 10 trillion KRW. The loan amount for Monolith is the largest for a single company in the hydrogen sector.

Jennifer Granholm, U.S. DOE Secretary, stated, "Monolith's cutting-edge turquoise hydrogen production technology is a project with significant impact on sustainable economic growth and the creation of clean energy-related jobs," as the reason for approving the loan.

Rob Hanson, CEO of Monolith, said, "This loan approval was obtained after successfully completing years of technical, legal, and market due diligence, and it reflects confidence that Monolith's technology will play a key role in global carbon neutrality and energy transition."

Founded in 2012, Monolith possesses proprietary technology that produces turquoise hydrogen and solid carbon simultaneously without carbon dioxide emissions by thermally decomposing natural gas using a self-developed reactor. In June last year, Monolith completed and began operating the world's first commercial turquoise hydrogen production facility in Nebraska, USA, with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons of hydrogen and 15,000 tons of eco-friendly solid carbon, making it the largest in the world.

Monolith plans to invest the funds secured through this clean energy loan in expanding its second plant near the first plant, with an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons of hydrogen and 180,000 tons of eco-friendly solid carbon. Monolith intends to continuously expand turquoise hydrogen production facilities globally, including in the U.S.

Based on its partnership with SK Inc., Monolith is executing strategies to maximize the utilization of eco-friendly solid carbon, a byproduct of turquoise hydrogen production. First, Monolith is pursuing stable supply channels for solid carbon through business collaborations with global tire companies actively engaged in decarbonization management, such as Goodyear and Michelin, including supplying carbon black, a key material in tire manufacturing.

In April, Monolith and Michelin signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the supply of 20,000 tons of solid carbon annually and are reviewing additional supply contracts.

SK Inc. and Monolith are promoting the establishment of a joint venture in Korea. Through the joint venture, they plan to secure business opportunities in the domestic market, where demand for eco-friendly industrial raw materials such as turquoise hydrogen and solid carbon is increasing. SK Inc. is accelerating the development of high value-added carbon material products using Monolith's eco-friendly solid carbon. As part of this effort, SK Inc. has started research with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology to utilize Monolith's eco-friendly solid carbon as an anode material for secondary batteries. According to market research firms such as Mordor Intelligence, the global synthetic graphite anode material market is expected to grow to about 9 trillion KRW by 2025.

A representative from SK Inc.'s Green Investment Center said, "Next year will be the inaugural year for SK Inc. and Monolith to pioneer the domestic market for eco-friendly solid carbon and turquoise hydrogen."

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