SK Group to Establish Large-Scale Research Facility Dedicated to Developing Eco-Friendly New Technologies

7 Affiliated Companies on 30,000 Pyeong in Bucheon
About 3,000 Development Personnel Working
Construction Starts in 2025, Opening Targeted for 2027
Strengthening R&D Infrastructure in Addition to SK Daedeok Research Complex in Daejeon

SK REITs (SK Entrusted Management Real Estate Investment Company) will enter the KOSPI market next month. On the 18th, the SK Group headquarters located in Jongno-gu, SK Seorin Building. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK is establishing a large-scale research facility that consolidates research and development (R&D) personnel and capabilities in the group's eco-friendly business sector. Among major groups, SK is the first to create an R&D infrastructure dedicated to developing new technologies for green business.

On the 25th, SK Group and Bucheon City signed a memorandum of understanding at the Bucheon City Hall to cooperate on the establishment of the ‘SK Green Techno Campus’.

Accordingly, SK Group will partner with Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province to establish the ‘SK Green Techno Campus’ on approximately 99,000㎡ (about 30,000 pyeong) within Bucheon Daejang New Town, where about 3,000 employees, including R&D personnel from seven related companies such as SK Innovation, will work on eco-friendly technology development.

Once the site for the facility is finalized, construction is expected to begin around 2025, with the campus opening in early 2027. SK plans to invest over 1 trillion KRW in building this facility, which will have a total floor area of approximately 198,000㎡ (about 60,000 pyeong). The campus will house seven companies including SK Innovation, SK Energy, SK Geocentric, SK On, SK E&S, SKC, and SK Materials, focusing on next-generation battery and semiconductor materials, carbon reduction and capture, renewable energy, hydrogen, and other eco-friendly technology development sectors.

An SK Group official stated, "As a leading ESG management company, we are creating the ‘SK Green Techno Campus’ to gather the R&D capabilities of our affiliates engaged in eco-friendly businesses and enhance synergy." SK has led business innovation to address environmental issues, becoming the first in Korea to join RE100 (100% renewable energy use) in 2020 and declaring a group-wide early pursuit of ‘Net Zero (carbon neutrality)’ in 2021.

Since 2020, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won has emphasized through CEO seminars that "affiliates adopting green business strategies must unite to discuss and find ways to realize these strategies." In response, SK established an Environmental Business Committee within the Supex Council, a consultative body of affiliate CEOs, and has been reviewing plans to build an R&D hub for sustainable eco-friendly growth at the group level.

SK expects that once the Green Techno Campus opens, it will be able to promptly respond to the rapidly increasing demand for green technology development and create synergy by optimally allocating technical infrastructure and experts from its affiliates. The key research areas at this campus will be broadly divided into eco-friendly energy transition and environmental solutions.

The eco-friendly energy transition sector will mainly focus on battery technologies (secondary batteries, secondary battery materials, next-generation batteries) and hydrogen-related technologies. The environmental solutions sector will include battery recycling, carbon capture, utilization and storage, and energy solutions. Additionally, research on eco-friendly foundational technologies such as nano materials and future promising green technologies like low-power semiconductor materials is also expected.