Hyundai Steel joins hands with KIER for advancing carbon neutral tech

Hyundai Steel has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Institute of Energy Research to push for comprehensive cooperation on technologies in the energy and environment sectors with the goal of leading the steel industry’s movement towards carbon neutrality.

According to the South Korean steelmaker, Hyundai Steel CEO Ahn Dong-il and KIER President Kim Jong-nam attended the MOU ceremony held at the KIER in Daejeon on Friday.

The two sides agreed to work together to develop technologies of carbon capture, utilization and storage, also known as CCUS, along with technologies that can improve the production of hydrogen and energy efficiency.

With the signed partnership, Hyundai Steel said it plans to apply the KIER’s energy-related technologies to advance the steelmaker’s factory performance and optimize its operations. The partnership will also allow a swift push for developing technologies such as combustion with zero carbon emissions, it added.

In particular, Hyundai Steel expressed high hopes for the collaboration to accelerate the advancement of “blue hydrogen” production technology, which refers to the process of doubling the amount of hydrogen produced from byproduct gases. Existing technology can simply separate and dilute hydrogen from byproduct gases, according to the steelmaker.

“As carbon neutrality is the most important factor for the company’s sustainable growth, we will take the lead in building a low-carbon environment in the steel industry through varied technological cooperation and active investment,” Ahn said.

Hyundai Steel has invested more than 500 billion won ($393 million) into constructing eco-friendly steel production factories. It plans to set up a coke dry quenching system and install additional selective catalytic reduction reactors in its steel plant in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province by 2024 to cut carbon emissions by 500,000 metric tons a year and decrease air pollutants by over 60 percent.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)