SK Inc., the holding company of South Korea's SK Group, established a joint venture with U.S. hydrogen firm Monolith, which succeeded in commercializing turquoise hydrogen for the first time in the world, and entered the Korean turquoise hydrogen and solid carbon market.
SK announced on October 13 that two companies met recently to discuss cooperation plans and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Turquoise hydrogen is hydrogen produced by injecting methane-based natural gas into a high-temperature reactor and decomposing it into hydrogen and solid carbon.
Since no carbon dioxide is generated during the production process, it is classified as an eco-friendly clean hydrogen along with blue hydrogen.
Since carbon dioxide is not generated, there is no need to go through the carbon capture and storage (CCUS) process required for blue hydrogen production.
It is evaluated that it is valuable as a strategic alternative in the transition process from blue hydrogen to green hydrogen because it can be produced with a smaller amount of electricity compared to green hydrogen.
“The two companies will develop turquoise hydrogen as an axis of SK’s hydrogen production portfolio through close cooperation,” said Dong-hyun Jang, president of SK Inc. "We will also jointly promote the development of a zero-carbon solid carbon business."
By adding the turquoise hydrogen portfolio to the hydrogen business value chain, SK anticipates that it will be able to further enhance the execution power of the hydrogen business roadmap.
