USNC, Hyundai Engineering & SK Ecoplant Join Hands for Hydrogen Production

Three firms, Washington-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC), South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and South Korea’s SK Ecoplant have signed a pact to produce carbon-free hydrogen production.

As per the MoU, the firms will conduct research and development for the construction of a ‘Hydrogen Micro Hub’ at the SK Ecoplant, headquartered in Seoul’s Jongno district. The facility will produce hydrogen by applying a high-temperature electrolysis process of solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) to the electricity and high-temperature steam generated by USNC’s Micro-Modular Reactor. The facility will use carbon-free hydrogen production method that extracts hydrogen by decomposing water with electricity generated from nuclear power.

Research and development will be carried out  on the MMR-SOEC integrated plant for the next five years. With this facility, they plan to examine the establishment of a competitive hydrogen production system and promote continuous research and development and verification for future hydrogen production and supply businesses.

Commenting on this,Hong Hyun-seong, CEO of Hyundai Engineering, said, “We have signed a three-party agreement to develop an environmentally friendly business that economically produces and supplies hydrogen by combining MMR and SOEC technologies.” He further added that Hyundai Engineering ahs palns to move ahead in various fields such as recycling plastic waste, resource utilization, offshore wind power, solar power, and expanding infrastructure for electric vehicle charging, to leap forward as a global eco-energy company.

Park Kyung-il, CEO of SK Ecoplant, said, “SOEC is a good partner that can take advantage of MMR’s advantages by operating at high temperatures and producing high-efficiency hydrogen with minimal energy consumption,” and added that the company will lead the production of zero-carbon emission hydrogen, including economically feasible nuclear power utilization hydrogen production, in addition to the renewable energy-based green hydrogen value chain model that it has secured.”

Francesco Venneri, CEO of USNC, said, “The Hydrogen Micro Hub is an efficient and economical hydrogen production plant that can produce hydrogen on a scale required at the local site.”

He also said, “The three companies, SK ecoplant, Hyundai Engineering, and USNC, will contribute to the efficient establishment of a hydrogen economy based on the MMR-SOEC integrated plant.”