SK E&S completes construction of world’s largest liquefied hydrogen plant

SK E&S’ liquefied hydrogen plant in Incheon. [Courtesy of SK E&S Co.]

SK E&S Co., the natural gas power unit of South Korea‘s SK Group, has completed the construction of a liquefied hydrogen plant with an annual production capacity of 3,000 tons in Incheon.

According to SK E&S on Wednesday, it held a completion ceremony for its liquefied hydrogen plant in Incheon, which will refine gaseous hydrogen produced by nearby SK Incheon Petrochem Co. into liquefied hydrogen. It is the world’s largest liquefied hydrogen plant, the company said.

The new plant has a daily capacity of 90 tons of liquefied hydrogen and an annual capacity of 30,000 tons by converting gaseous hydrogen into liquid form at an ultra-low temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius.

The annual capacity is sufficient to power about 5,000 hydrogen buses for one year.

The plant is also equipped with six facilities capable of storing 20 tons of liquefied hydrogen each, totaling storage capacity of 120 tons.

The hydrogen energy ecosystem, which has been based on gaseous hydrogen, is expected to undergo a paradigm shift with SK E&S‘ new liquefied hydrogen plant.

It has been challenging to transport gaseous hydrogen due to its large volume and low stability.

Liquefied hydrogen, on the other hand, is only 1/800th of the volume of gaseous hydrogen, which means that it can be transported 10 times more per trip, and its storage capacity can be greatly increased, reducing the size of the charging station.

While a gaseous hydrogen charging station requires a minimum area of 700 square meters, a liquefied hydrogen charging station only needs 1/10th to 1/3rd of that area.

The total charging capacity can also be increased significantly with the increased storage capacity per charging station.

While a gaseous hydrogen charging station can accommodate up to 50 passenger cars or 10 buses per day, a liquefied hydrogen charging station can charge more than 200 passenger cars or 40 buses or more.

Liquefied hydrogen’s charging speed is also faster than gaseous hydrogen, leading to a significant reduction in waiting time.

[Courtesy of SK E&S Co.]

This means that large vehicles, such as buses and trucks, which have larger charging capacities and longer charging times than passenger cars, will benefit significantly.

The new Incheon liquefied hydrogen plant is the first tangible result of SK Group’s plan to build a hydrogen ecosystem through public-private cooperation.

SK E&S plans to actively pursue the liquefied hydrogen charging business based on its large-scale liquefied hydrogen production facilities.

It plans to build 40 liquefied hydrogen charging stations nationwide, led by its subsidiary, SK Plug Hyverse Co., and aims to install and operate approximately 20 liquefied hydrogen charging stations in 2024.

“The completion of the Incheon liquefied hydrogen plant marks the beginning of turning our dream of the hydrogen era into reality,” said SK E&S Chief Executive Officer and President Choo Hyeong-wook. “We will strive to contribute to the creation of a stable hydrogen supply and demand ecosystem by operating the new plant smoothly and carrying out our plans to build liquefied hydrogen charging infrastructure without any delays.”