JERA and Samsung C&T sign MoU to strengthen hydrogen and ammonia supply chains across Japan and South Korea

Japan’s largest power generator JERA and South Korea’s Samsung C&T have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration on hydrogen and ammonia value chains, with the aim of strengthening the resilience and supply security of the two fuels in both countries.

The partnership, announced on 13 July 2026, will see the companies study ways to increase operational flexibility across their supply chains, including the management and segregation of carbon intensity attributes in storage facilities such as tanks, an increasingly important consideration as low-carbon molecules of differing carbon footprints move through shared infrastructure.

Japan and South Korea both depend heavily on imported energy and have placed hydrogen and ammonia at the centre of their decarbonisation strategies.

On the Japanese side, JERA is developing what it describes as the country’s first integrated low-carbon ammonia value chain spanning production, transportation and utilisation, with operations targeted to begin around fiscal year 2029, and has been selected as a supplier under Japan’s METI price gap support scheme for low-carbon hydrogen and derivatives.

Samsung C&T, meanwhile, is advancing low-carbon ammonia infrastructure and supply chain projects in South Korea with national government backing. Irtiza Sayyed, Senior Managing Executive Officer of JERA and Chief Executive of JERA Global Energy Solutions, said the partnership should help both companies explore practical routes to commercially viable regional hydrogen and ammonia markets.

The collaboration supports JERA’s Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 initiative across its domestic and international operations.