GRT, a KOSDAQ-listed company, announced on the 29th that it successfully secured a large-scale investment from the Chinese government through its subsidiary last month, which will lead to a porous material business for direct air capture (DAC).
According to a GRT official, its subsidiary Qingdian Hongwei New Materials Co., Ltd. received an investment of 800 million yuan (approximately 152.9 billion KRW) from Qingdian County Qingqiao Equity Investment Joint Venture. Qingdian County Qingqiao Equity Investment Joint Venture is a fund whose largest investor is Qingdian County State-owned Assets Holdings Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese government agency. The investment background is to produce porous materials related to direct air capture technology. Meanwhile, GRT has obtained the first porous material patent in China through six years of joint research and development with a Taiwanese R&D team and is currently known to hold a total of six patents.
After successfully attracting investment from the Chinese government agency, GRT is currently in discussions with the government regarding the establishment of a large-scale factory. According to the Chinese government agency’s estimates, once the factory is established and the entire production facility is operational, the annual transaction scale could reach approximately 3 billion yuan (about 573.3 billion KRW). This factory plans to produce not only porous materials but also precision coating materials and polymer film materials.
Direct air capture technology has recently gained attention as a technology aimed at reducing carbon emissions in line with the global joint goals of ‘carbon neutrality’ and ‘net zero.’ Direct air capture removes carbon dioxide from the air using chemical reactions. First, a massive blower draws in air, which then reacts with an adsorbent to effectively separate carbon dioxide with low energy consumption. The porous materials produced by GRT are utilized in this process.
The increasing importance of ESG in corporate management and building an eco-friendly society also supports this business. The nano porous materials produced by GRT have enhanced absorption capabilities and functions such as capturing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon capture, and water vapor capture under low humidity, making them versatile for use in environments affected by pollution and abnormal climate conditions.
Recently, with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the carbon emissions of data centers have significantly increased, benefiting the direct air capture business. On the 9th, Microsoft made headlines by purchasing 500,000 tons of carbon removal credits over six years from an Occidental subsidiary direct air capture company to address this issue. According to foreign media, Microsoft’s purchase contract is reported to be the largest single purchase contract among credits generated through direct air capture.
A company representative stated, “The company’s outstanding technological capabilities were recognized by the Chinese government, leading to this investment,” and added, “The direct air capture-related porous material production business we plan to pursue has a very large market opportunity, so our goal is to move quickly and become the industry leader.”
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