- The S.Korean industrial gas company hopes to use the US firms’ technologies to expand its presence in the Asian clean energy market
According to The Korea Economic Daily article published on March 7, 2023, SK Materials Co., an industrial gas manufacturing unit under SK Inc., will place 8 Rivers Capital LLC (8 Rivers), a US clean energy firm, under its arms in a bold move to lead the Asian clean energy market with the most advanced carbon capture technologies.
The South Korean company announced in a press release on Tuesday that its board on Monday approved a plan to spend $300 million to fully own 8 Rivers, a Durham, North Carolina-based firm with patented technologies in carbon capture and oxy combustion.
SK Materials’ latest investment in 8 Rivers to be completed by July follows its previous investment of $100 million to own a 12% stake in the US firm in March last year to set up an Asian joint venture for global decarbonization.
With 8 Rivers under its wings, SK Materials is expected to expedite the commercialization of clean energy technologies in North America and then will make inroads into heavy fossil fuel-reliant Asian countries with huge carbon dioxide (CO2) storage capacities such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Korean company’s latest carbon capture technology investment decision comes less than a week after it announced its equity investment in another US carbon capture technology developer ION Clean Energy Inc.
Last month, it also agreed to join hands with global energy giant ExxonMobil Corp. to mass produce blue ammonia using carbon capture technology.
Founded in 2008, 8 Rivers boasts patented emissions-free electricity and clean or blue hydrogen production technologies.
Its blue hydrogen production technology, dubbed 8RH2, generates hydrogen at high pressure while capturing CO2, using its novel refrigeration-based CO2 separation technology. It is a cheaper and cleaner way to produce blue hydrogen, said the company.
Its new power cycle also generates zero-emissions electricity from carbon-based fuels for lower costs, it said.
Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology that traps CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels has emerged as a key decarbonization technology as the world is gearing up for its ambitious target for climate neutrality.
SK Materials and many other Korean energy firms are rushing to use the CCUS technology to produce cleaner energy from their power and energy plants at affordable costs.
