South Korean firms in hydrogen ops in Saudi Arabia

SEOUL: Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) and others have signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to build and operate a hydrogen and ammonia production plant in Saudi Arabia, three people have told Reuters.

The project will be worth about Us$6.5bil (Rm29.69bil), said one of the people, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with the media on the matter. The initial agreement coincides with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to South Korea.

The project built over 2025-2029 will span 396,694 sq metres in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, produce 1.2 million tonnes of green hydrogen and ammonia annually for 20 years, and be worth about Us$6.5bil, Yonhap news agency reported earlier yesterday, citing industry sources. Kepco, Korea Southern Power Co Ltd, Korea National Oil Corp, Posco Holdings Inc and Samsung C&T Corp signed the agreement, Yonhap reported.

Kepco told Reuters it will make an announcement later. Korea National Oil Corp did not have an immediate comment. Posco declined to comment. Korea Southern Power and Samsung C&T could not be reached for comment.