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Monday, 21 November 2022

South Korea to build a USD 6.5 bn hydrogen and ammonia plant in Saudi Arabia

South Korea’s MENA green hydrogen shopping spree continues: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has inked an agreement worth some USD 6.5 bn with Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) and four other South Korean firms to build a hydrogen and ammonia plant, Reuters reported on Thursday citing a source with knowledge of the agreement. The South Korean firms will build and operate the plant with investments from PIF, the newswire reports citing Kepco.

The details: The facility is expected to have a generational capacity of 1.2 mn tons annually, the newswire quotes Kepco as saying. Construction is expected between 2025 and 2029 and will be operational for 20 years. The plant could be built in KSA’s Neom, South Korea’s Pulse News reports referencing undisclosed sources.

Is Acwa Power involved? What isn’t clear as of yet is whether this is related to the 1.2 mn ton per annum Neom green hydrogen production plant, which will be built by Acwa Power’s JV with Air Products. Acwa and Kepco had signed an agreement last month that would see them “partner” on a number of hydrogen projects across MENA. The Korean utilities provider wants to source 5-10 mn tons of green ammonia produced from green hydrogen for power generation by 2030, Kepco said at the time. We’re reaching out to the Saudi utilities giant for comments.

WE’RE NOT DONE WITH ACWA JUST YET-

The Tadawul-listed company will work on an ammonia and green hydrogen facility in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reports. The project will be carried out by Thai state-owned energy company PTT Plc and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is carrying out work on the project alongside Acwa Power. Thailand and Indonesia are two markets the Saudi renewable energy company is shooting to expand as part of its global expansion, Acwa CEO Paddy Padmanathan said last month.

Meanwhile, Acwa’s partner on the Neom plant, Air Products, may export larger quantities of the region’s hydrogen to Germany. The US-based company and German-based Mabanaft will build a green hydrogen terminal in Germany to facilitate imports, according to a company statement. The project is aiming to be operational by 2026 and will be located in Hamburg’s port, facilitating the import of green ammonia from large-scale green hydrogen production facilities operated by Air Products and its partners — including Acwa Power and Neom. The EU is looking to secure a supply of 20 mn tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030.

IN OTHER GREEN HYDROGEN NEWS-

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Fanar will invest USD 1.8 bn in the first phase of a USD 4 bn green ammonia plant in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone, according to a Daily News Egypt interview with group CIO Mishaal Al-Mutlaq last week. The company inked the MoU with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and the New and Renewable Energy Authority in August. Phase 1 of the plant will yield 250k tons of green ammonia by 2025, Al-Mutlaq says.

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