S-Oil expands to hydrogen fuel cell market
S-Oil, which is owned by Saudi Aramco, has acquired a 20% stake in Korean-Saudi Arabian hydrogen fuel cell developer Fuel Cell Innovations (FCI). Through the acquisition, S-Oil is going to diversify its energy portfolio.
FCI will invest 100 billion won (US$ 88.6 million) by 2027 to develop production facilities with over 100 MW capacities with adding green hydrogen to its portfolio.
The aim is to sell fuel cell products to Korean and Middle Eastern markets, targeting power and telecom companies. FCI has signed a deal to supply 150 MW of fuel cells to a company based in Saudi Arabia
S-Oil said that it is in discussion with its parent company Saudi Aramco to start producing liquefied hydrogen and open a operate hydrogen refuelling stations in Seoul, South Korea.
FCI, based in Daejeon, is a joint venture between South Korea and Saudi Arabia which has over 40 patents on solid oxide fuel cell systems (SOFC). It is an R&D company that specialises in high-temperature fuel cells and was established in 2016.
In the past, FCI also partnered with other fuel cell companies, such as Italy’s SOLIDpower, which specialises in fuel cell systems for buildings, where both companies signed MoU in 2019 to build a fuel cell plant in Daejeon City, Korea. Previously, EZ-Energies signed an agreement to acquire 50% of FCI.
