SK Chairman Chey Tae-won Drives 'Green Drive' with Hydrogen and SMR During U.S. Visit

Visit as Economic Delegation for Korea-US Summit
Attend Key Economic Cooperation Events and Think Tank Meetings

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, visited the United States as part of the economic delegation during the Korea-US summit, actively supporting economic diplomacy between Korea and the US by attending key economic cooperation events such as the investment declaration ceremony, the Korea-US Business Roundtable, and the Advanced Industry Forum.

At the investment declaration ceremony held on the 25th of last month (local time) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, SK's domestic investments by American companies driven through global investment and cooperation were included. On the same day, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy hosted the 'Korea-US Advanced Industry and Clean Energy Partnership' event, which included three new MOUs (Memorandums of Understanding) from SK Group affiliates.

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group attended a think tank meeting held in Washington DC, USA, on the 25th of last month (local time), where he exchanged views with officials on expanding Korea-US economic cooperation and supply chain prospects. Photo by SK Group

Notably, these investments and MOUs focused on green business sectors such as hydrogen, plastic recycling, Small Modular Reactors (SMR), and blue ammonia. Under Chairman Choi Tae-won's leadership, SK's environmentally friendly business partnerships, which had previously emphasized operations like the battery production plant in Georgia, expanded into hydrogen, nuclear power, and clean energy.

Chairman Choi Tae-won held a virtual meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in July last year, announcing large-scale new investment plans in key growth sectors including semiconductors, batteries, green energy, and bio industries.

Among the investments declared during the Korea-US summit, the domestic investment by Plug Power, a global leader in hydrogen energy, was a result of long-standing cooperation with SK. SK E&S and Plug Power will invest a total of 1 trillion KRW in the domestic hydrogen industry through their joint venture 'SK Plug Hyverse.' According to the joint venture's shareholding ratio, SK E&S will contribute 510 billion KRW, and Plug Power will contribute 490 billion KRW respectively.

SK Plug Hyverse plans to establish a hydrogen technology R&D center and a 'Giga-factory,' a production base for core hydrogen facilities, while setting up a mass production system for hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzer equipment. It will also invest in the construction and operation of domestic liquefied hydrogen refueling stations. Plug Power is a company that aims to build an ecosystem encompassing hydrogen production and storage, solidifying its leading position in hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer technology. SK Inc. and SK E&S secured majority shareholder status by investing 1.6 billion USD (approximately 1.8 trillion KRW) in Plug Power in 2021.

The domestic investment in plastic recycling facilities by Purecycle Technologies (PCT), a plastic recycling company, is also the result of close business cooperation with SK. The joint venture is collaborating to start construction of a recycled plastic production plant within this year and plans to jointly develop the world's first plastic recycling complex, Ulsan ARC, by 2025.

PCT possesses chemical recycling technology that extracts ultra-pure recycled polypropylene (Ultra Pure Recycled PP) by removing contaminants, odors, and colors from waste plastics. SK Geocentric invested 55 million USD (approximately 68 billion KRW) in PCT in March last year to acquire shares, and in October last year, the two companies signed a joint venture agreement to proceed with joint investment in Ulsan.

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, is entering the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to attend the investment declaration ceremony and the Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable held in Washington DC on the 25th of last month (local time). Photo by SK Group

Chairman Choi Tae-won attended the Korea-US Business Roundtable during President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the U.S., discussing ways to strengthen the advanced technology alliance with over 30 key business leaders from both countries. At the event, Chairman Choi emphasized the importance of establishing a stable semiconductor supply chain in an era where technology equates to security and introduced investments such as the construction of a next-generation power semiconductor wafer factory underway in Michigan.

He also mentioned the case of promoting the commercialization of SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) by 2030 in collaboration with TerraPower, stressing, “Korean and U.S. companies will create the future together through technological cooperation and play a role as partners in economic security.”

Coinciding with Chairman Choi's visit to the U.S., SK Inc., SK Innovation, SK E&S, and SK Materials signed new MOUs, opening the door to new global cooperation. SK Inc. and SK Innovation signed a mutual cooperation agreement with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and U.S. SMR design company TerraPower for the development and commercialization of next-generation nuclear power technologies. The four companies agreed to collaborate on the demonstration and commercial reactor development of TerraPower’s sodium-cooled fast reactor-based 4th generation SMR, 'Natrium.'

Following their joint investment of 250 million USD (approximately 300 billion KRW) in TerraPower in August last year, SK Inc. and SK Innovation will now actively participate in TerraPower’s SMR business and global carbon reduction projects through this agreement. SK E&S will produce blue hydrogen by removing carbon dioxide using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and supply it nationwide for power generation and mobility. This agreement is expected to lead to a large-scale direct investment of 6.7 trillion KRW in building a blue hydrogen ecosystem, creating 105,000 jobs and generating social and economic benefits worth 59 trillion KRW.

Additionally, SK Materials signed an MOU with ExxonMobil, a global energy company in the U.S., to strengthen business cooperation in clean energy sectors such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and blue ammonia.

Meanwhile, Chairman Choi Tae-won met with representatives of U.S. think tanks during his visit to Washington DC to discuss expanding Korea-US economic cooperation and supply chain outlooks. At the meeting, he emphasized the need to respond flexibly to rapidly changing international environments such as geopolitical competition, climate change, and energy transition, and requested cooperation from various experts.

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