SK has invested 1.6 trillion won, becoming the largest shareholder of a leading hydrogen company in the US

SK Corp. and SK E&S announced on the 7th that they became the largest shareholders by securing a 9.9% stake in Plug Power, an American hydrogen energy company. The two companies each invested 800 billion won and jointly invested about 1.6 trillion won. It is in the form of full-fledged hydrogen business, which SK has chosen as one of the future foods.

Plug Power was established in 1997 as a company possessing key technologies related to hydrogen. As of the end of last year, the market cap was about 16 trillion won. SK said, “Plug Power has core technologies in vehicle fuel cells (PEMFC) and hydrogen charging station construction technology.” Plug Power is also conducting hydrogen-based mobility projects such as forklifts and trucks that use hydrogen as fuel. Currently, it is supplying hydrogen forklifts to Amazon and Walmart.

With this investment, SK plans to accelerate its targeting in the Asian hydrogen market. The strategy is to preempt new business development opportunities in China and Vietnam using the network of SK Group. In addition, it plans to concrete business models by establishing a joint venture with Plug Power to jointly enter the Asian hydrogen market. In Korea, the technology of Plug Power will be used to accelerate the creation of the hydrogen ecosystem that SK is envisioning. Earlier, SK announced a blueprint to foster the hydrogen business as the next-generation flagship energy business by integrating the value chain from production to distribution to supply of hydrogen. SK plans to have a hydrogen production capacity of 280,000 tons in Korea by 2025. An SK official said, “We will continue to grow our influence in the global hydrogen market by combining SK Group’s business capabilities and various external partnerships.”

Reporter Kiheon Kang [email protected]