ACWA Power and KEPCO forge green hydrogen/ammonia alliance

October 12, 2022, by Ajsa Habibic

Saudi developer of green hydrogen projects ACWA Power and South Korean electric utilities provider Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) have teamed up to develop green hydrogen/ammonia projects to decarbonise KEPCO’s operations.

The companies have signed an extensive memorandum of understanding (MoU) that proposes a potential partnership in the development of green hydrogen/ ammonia projects in the Middle East and other agreed geographies to decarbonise KEPCO’s operations in South Korea.

This is the first agreement of its kind between ACWA Power and KEPCO that underscores the commitment of both companies to decarbonise their operations.

While ACWA Power has a net-zero emissions target for 2050, KEPCO is set to rely increasingly on green ammonia produced by green hydrogen for power generation purposes and targets the utilisation of 5-10 million tonnes of green ammonia by 2030.

“The world is witnessing the alarming impact of climate change and as pressure rapidly mounts to take immediate, mitigating action, collaborative efforts need to be made to find the right solutions. We are honoured to work with committed, long-term partners like KEPCO to accelerate the exploration of green hydrogen—a solution that can decarbonise entire industries and make a real difference towards reducing global warming”, said Paddy Padmanathan, CEO and vice chairman of ACWA Power.

“With mega-scale project commitments in Saudi Arabia and Oman, ACWA Power is at the forefront of scaling up the development of green hydrogen and we look forward to applying our expertise and delivering transformative clean energy solutions that will play a significant role in decarbonising the world.”

ACWA Power, in a joint venture with NEOM and Air Products, formed NEOM Green Hydrogen Company which is developing the ‘world’s largest green hydrogen project’ in Saudi Arabia. When commissioned in 2026, it will produce up to 650 tonnes per day of green hydrogen. By that date, the project will mitigate the impact of 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

In addition, ACWA Power, as part of a joint venture, also recently signed a joint development agreement towards a multi-billion-dollar investment in a world-scale green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility powered by renewable energy in Oman; as well as an MoU with South Korea’s POSCO Holdings for the joint development of green hydrogen to decarbonise the group’s power generation and steel manufacturing processes.