HD Hyundai develops S.Korea's first offshore supply base for ammonia

HD Hyundai Co., the largest shipbuilding conglomerate in South Korea on Wednesday said it developed for the first time in the country a vessel for supplying the future eco-friendly energy source ammonia from sea to land.

Company affiliates Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (HHI) jointly developed Ammonia FSRU (floating storage regasification unit) with the government-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and obtained approval in principle from Lloyd's Register, a UK-based technical and professional services organization and maritime classification society.

The vessel stores liquefied ammonia transported from the production area, re-gasifies it and supplies it to clients on land.

An FSRU is generally run similarly to a land terminal in approaching coastal mooring facilities but is cheaper to dry and has a shorter production period. Another advantage is the lack of need for a large site.

Ammonia's role in the storage and transportation of hydrogen is attracting major interest.

The substance is a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen whose liquefication temperature is minus 33 degrees Celsius, far higher than hydrogen's minus 253 degrees. When liquefied, ammonia has a hydrogen storage density 70% higher than that of liquefied hydrogen of the same volume, making it suitable for large-scale and long-distance transportation.

In addition, ammonia is an eco-friendly fuel that emits no carbon dioxide during combustion and cuts CO2 emissions when mixed with coal while maintaining power generation capacity.

To achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to carbon neutrality by 2030, the country is promoting power generation by using 20% ammonia in mixed fuels and pushing for ammonia distribution infrastructure of four million tons.

In December last year, HD Hyundai, KNOC and Lloyd's Register also signed an agreement on joint development of Ammonia FSRU. HHI devised the basic design and KSOE built the regasification system, a key piece of equipment.

KNOC provided technical information and projects to build domestic infrastructure for the acquisition and storage of clean ammonia.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com