[Featured Stock] SK Rises Nearly 4% on News of Entry into Hydrogen Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] SK is showing strong performance in the early trading session on the 24th. News that the company is accelerating its future energy businesses, such as electric vehicle charging and hydrogen plant establishment, appears to have stimulated investor sentiment.

As of 9:27 a.m. on the day, SK was trading at 253,000 KRW, up 3.90% (9,500 KRW) from the previous day.

It was reported that SK Group will enter the hydrogen business. They plan to build a hydrogen plant in Boryeong, Chungnam, capable of producing 250,000 tons (t) of blue hydrogen annually. To this end, SK E&S, which oversees SK's hydrogen business, will sign a business agreement for the blue hydrogen project with the government, Chungnam Province, Korea Midland Power, and others at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 26th.

Blue hydrogen is hydrogen produced by capturing carbon generated when extracting hydrogen from liquefied natural gas (LNG). It is classified as a clean hydrogen in an intermediate stage before reaching the green hydrogen production phase, which is obtained by electrolyzing water as an eco-friendly energy source.

The day before, SK also disclosed that SK E&S acquired 9,605,833 shares of ParkingCloud Co., Ltd. for 178.5 billion KRW for the purpose of providing parking control solutions and services. SK E&S owns 47.13% of ParkingCloud Co., Ltd. and explained that the acquisition purpose is “to secure infrastructure for mobility energy solution businesses such as electric vehicle charging.”