[Upcoming Hydrogen Economy] Securing CCUS and Blue Ammonia, GS Steadily Building the Hydrogen Value Chain
by Jeong Donghoon
Published 25 May.2023 08:00(KST)
GS Group Builds Hydrogen Value Chain Including Essential CCUS Technology Demonstration for Clean Hydrogen Production and Utilization
Secures 200,000 Tons of Blue Ammonia in UAE, First in Korea
Hydrogen Amount Equivalent to 75,000 Hydrogen Cars Circling the Earth
GS Group, which has shown strengths in the energy sector, is steadily building a clean hydrogen value chain. It has secured CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) technology and blue ammonia as raw materials for hydrogen production. Additionally, the group is focusing on renewable energy as a future growth engine and plans to expand its current 300MW capacity in solar power, wind power, and fuel cells to 1.2GW. It is also laying the groundwork for a 'green hydrogen' business that extracts hydrogen from water through renewable energy.
GS Group is building its hydrogen business centered around two companies: GS Caltex and GS Energy. GS Caltex aims to establish infrastructure that participates in the entire hydrogen industry value chain, from hydrogen production to utilization. First, it plans to build a liquefied hydrogen production plant in Pyeongtaek in cooperation with Korea Gas Corporation. Starting in 2026, it will produce 10,000 tons of liquefied hydrogen and supply it to the metropolitan area.
It is also promoting a clean hydrogen cluster project for carbon capture, storage, and utilization in collaboration with research institutes and local governments to convert by-product hydrogen currently used in oil refineries into clean hydrogen. This project aims not only to produce clean hydrogen but also to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the Yeosu industrial complex, achieving carbon neutrality in the Yeosu complex. Preparations are underway to build a fuel cell power plant in Yeosu using by-product hydrogen from oil refineries in partnership with Korea East-West Power. Since the fuel cell power plant uses by-product hydrogen, which emits less carbon, it can produce cleaner electricity than existing fuel cells that use city gas.
GS Energy has secured blue ammonia for the first time in Korea. It acquired a 10% stake in the blue ammonia development project of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and was selected as a joint project partner. Blue ammonia refers to ammonia produced with reduced carbon emissions through carbon capture technology during the production process. GS Energy is participating in a project to develop a large-scale blue ammonia production plant in Abu Dhabi, UAE, handling all processes from carbon capture to ammonia production. The plant aims for commercial operation in 2025, and GS Energy has secured 200,000 tons out of the annual production of 1 million tons. When converted to hydrogen, this amount yields 30,000 tons of hydrogen. This is enough for 75,000 Hyundai Motor Company Nexo hydrogen vehicles to simultaneously travel around the Earth once (approximately 40,000 km).
The reason GS Energy focuses on ammonia is that ammonia is the most efficient way to transport liquefied hydrogen. For transportation and storage of hydrogen, gaseous hydrogen must be converted into liquid form. Gaseous hydrogen has limited transport capacity. Liquefied hydrogen (hydrogen in liquid form at an ultra-low temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius) has low storage density. When hydrogen is combined with nitrogen, it becomes ammonia, which can be transported by sea in this form and hydrogen can be extracted from ammonia at the demand site. Unlike liquefied hydrogen, ammonia can be liquefied relatively easily (at minus 33 degrees Celsius). It can also store 1.7 times more hydrogen per unit volume, making large-scale transportation easier. GS Energy plans to introduce blue ammonia to co-fire in power plants or secure hydrogen to use as fuel for hydrogen vehicles.
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