ACWA Power, a leading Saudi developer, investor, and operator of power generation, desalinated water, and green hydrogen plants worldwide, has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with POSCO Holdings, the holding company of South Korea’s POSCO Group.
The agreement will involve the joint development of green hydrogen and its derivatives such as green ammonia, to decarbonize POSCO Group’s power generation, and its steel manufacturing processes, along with serving other Korean clients of POSCO Group.
Green hydrogen and ammonia produced by the partners through new green field investments will support meeting POSCO Group’s ambitious targets to produce 500 000 tonnes of hydrogen globally by 2030.
POSCO Group’s output will be used in applications across diverse industries including the company’s own power generation needs, construction, energy, and support for other industrial off-takers in South Korea.
With tangible project commitments in Saudi Arabia and Oman, ACWA Power is at the forefront of scaling up green hydrogen, whose output—ammonia—will lead to the outcome of decarbonizing entire industries, including hard-to-abate industrial activities like steel manufacturing, said Paddy Padmanathan, Vice Chairman and CEO at ACWA Power.
As of 2021, POSCO, the steel-making company of POSCO Group, has the capacity to produce 42.9 million tonnes of steel, making it the sixth largest steel producer in the world, and the largest in its home country of South Korea.
The partnership with POSCO Holdings, a giant in their field, represents our firm commitment to working with like-minded partners to support global decarbonization efforts, and the critical and timely achievement of net zero targets as per the timeframes set by the Paris Agreement, Paddy Padmanathan said.
ACWA Power, alongside Saudi Arabia’s NEOM and Air Products, is developing the first at-scale green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia.
When complete in 2026, the project will produce 1.2 million tonnes of green ammonia per year for the purposes of decarbonizing industries, making it the world’s largest facility of its kind.
This collaboration is yet another significant step forward in ensuring a cleaner, greener future for all, one that is going to be achieved through transformative clean energy solutions, and we are indeed proud of our role in leading the change and driving energy transition globally ended Paddy Padmanathan.
