Korea's SK E&S to produce 30,000 tons of liquid hydrogen per year

SK E&S, the energy affiliate of SK Group, from next year will start domestic output and distribution of up to 30,000 tons of liquid hydrogen annually.

The company on Wednesday said it has concluded a memorandum of understanding on the development of a liquid hydrogen ecosystem with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and private corporations including Hyundai Motor, Hyosung and Hychangwon.

Liquid hydrogen is hydrogen converted into liquid through cooling to minus 253 degrees Celsius. Its volume is only 1 in 800 that of gaseous hydrogen but its transportation capacity is around 10 times more than that of its counterpart, meaning lower transportation costs. 

Liquid hydrogen also charges over four times faster than gaseous hydrogen and has a relatively low risk of explosion and fire since it can be stored at atmospheric pressure. The US, Japan and Germany have more than 250 liquid hydrogen charging stations.

Specializing in liquid hydrogen supply, SK E&S is building a plant in Incheon with an annual output capacity of 30,000 tons that is expected to go online in the second half of next year. The figure of 30,000 tons is enough to power 75,000 units of Hyundai Motor's hydrogen-powered vehicle Nexo to circumnavigate the globe once.

The liquid hydrogen produced at the Incheon plant will be supplied to around 40 charging stations nationwide, and SK E&S plans to raise that number to around 100 by 2025. For this purpose, the company in January set up the joint venture SK Plug Hyverse with US hydrogen corporation Plug Power.

Write to Seo-Woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com