SK Gas and SK D&D Form ESS Joint Venture with US Energy Company

Total Investment of 87.1 Billion KRW
First Project Investment in Texas, USA
Sequential Commercial Operation of 200MW Starting September This Year

SK Gas and SK D&D are targeting the rapidly growing U.S. energy storage system (ESS) market as their first move of the new year.

On the 17th, SK Gas and SK D&D announced that they have established a joint venture, SA Grid Solutions, with U.S. renewable energy company Apex Clean Energy and signed an investment agreement for the ESS business.

The local partner, Apex, has completed a total of 40 renewable energy power plants with a cumulative capacity of 8.6GW and is actively expanding its ESS business.

Previously, SK Gas and SK D&D established the U.S. local corporation GridFlex in December last year. The joint venture was formed by GridFlex and Apex, with a total investment amount of 87.1 billion KRW, including 69.7 billion KRW from SK Gas and 17.4 billion KRW from SK D&D. The equity ratio is 60% for GridFlex and 40% for Apex.

SK Gas and SK D&D plan to expand their business scope from domestic gas and power generation to overseas renewable energy, securing additional growth momentum.

On the 16th (local time), at SK Gas Houston branch in Texas, USA, Yoon Byung-seok, President of SK Gas (right), and Ken Young, CEO of American energy company Apex Clean Energy, signed an investment contract for the ESS business and took a commemorative photo. (Photo by SK Gas)

This year, SK Gas added the U.S. ESS business to its portfolio following the commercial operation of the LNG·LPG dual power plant Ulsan GPS and KET’s LNG terminal.

The first project investment region was chosen as Texas, USA. Approximately 200MW of ESS facilities will be installed. Construction is underway with the goal of sequential commercial operation starting in September this year. The 200MW capacity can charge and discharge electricity sufficient for 39,000 households per day. Texas’s power consumption reaches about 80% of South Korea’s total.

Starting with Texas, SK Gas and SK D&D plan to expand further into other regions, increasing ESS capacity to 1GW while exploring renewable energy business opportunities within the U.S. In the long term, as domestic renewable energy adoption increases and the electricity trading market opens, they expect to leverage ESS operation and electricity trading capabilities to secure a leading position in the market.