SK Group is hastening toward carbon neutrality under an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiative through close partnership with global green energy companies.

SK Group said Thursday that Chairman Chey Tae-won met Andrew Marsh, president and chief executive of U.S. hydrogen energy company Plug Power, and Jeff Bishop, chief executive and co-founder of grid solution company Key Capture Energy, respectively, on Wednesday, at SK headquarters in Jongno, central Seoul, to discuss cooperation schemes in green energy sector.

During his meeting with Plug Power CEO, Chey expressed his high hope that the U.S. company’s hydrogen core technology and SK Group’s energy network can create great synergy in helping both Kore and the U.S. achieve net zero goal earlier than expected.

Chey and Marsh agreed to enhance ties between the two companies to speed up their entry into hydrogen market in Asia and create Asia-targeted hydrogen ecosystem.

SK Group’s energy unit SK E&S Co. and Plug Power on Wednesday signed on an agreement to set up a 51:49 joint venture to build a Giga Factory & R&D Center in a key metropolitan area in Korea by 2024. The facilities that will mass produce key facilities for hydrogen projects will be used to their advance into hydrogen markets in Asia.

Chey also discussed various measures to achieve net zero carbon emissions with Bishop, emphasizing the importance of grid solution, which offers stable power supply by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the process of using energy storage systems to complement volatility in power supply due to increase in renewable energy.

Chey said that grid solution is a key technology that can bring forward net zero goal given securing power network stability is important to proliferate renewable energy.

He expected that the integration of Key Capture Energy’s grid solution capacity and SK Group’s AI and battery technologies would allow the company to grow into No. 1 grid solution operator in the U.S.

Bishop agreed with Chey, saying that as a pioneer in the U.S. grid solution market and the first operator to successfully apply AI technology to ESS-based power trade, Key Capture Energy would lead the U.S. grid solution market through close partnership with SK.

SK E&S last month purchased 95 percent stakes in Key Capture Energy, becoming the largest shareholder of the U.S. grid solution company.

Last year, SK Group became the first in Korea to join the global RE100 initiative that aims to operate fully on renewable electricity.

Industry sources expected that carbon neutrality will be a key topic at SK Group’s CEO seminar scheduled for Oct. 20-23.

By Lee Yoon-jae and Lee Eun-joo

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