Tallgrass and Korea Western Power Team Up to Advance South Korea’s Clean Energy Goals

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Tallgrass and Korea Western Power (“KOWEPO”) announced a cooperation agreement for development of gigawatt scale green hydrogen and ammonia production.

The scope of the cooperation agreement includes a comprehensive feasibility study for green hydrogen production—a process that makes hydrogen from renewable energy and electrolysis. This announcement builds on a previous memorandum of understanding Tallgrass executed with Intersect Power, a leading clean energy provider, to jointly develop green hydrogen for export to Asia as ammonia. KOWEPO expects to convert this green hydrogen to clean ammonia, using Tallgrass infrastructure, to support South Korean decarbonization and the broader global demand for clean energy supply.

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In July 2022, Tallgrass, KOWEPO and Hanwha PSM signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a hydrogen co-firing gas-turbine project in the United States. This new agreement is an extension of the well-established relationship between KOWEPO and Tallgrass on global decarbonization initiatives.

The agreement marks the first instance of a Korean company promoting green hydrogen and ammonia production in the U.S. and has been advanced by U.S. government initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act, which strengthens domestic clean energy production and U.S. global leadership in the energy transition.

“As we heard during President Yoon’s visit to the White House last month, our two nations are collaborating in all the areas that matter most – and there is no more urgent priority than all of us joining forces to address the climate crisis,” said Vincent Follaca, Vice President of International Development at Tallgrass. “As operators of large-scale infrastructure spanning North America, we are proud to collaborate with global leaders, like KOWEPO, who share our vision for a clean energy future.”

KOWEPO plans to expand domestic Korean renewable energy capacity to 10.7 GW by 2035, raising the renewable power generation rate from 7% currently, to 23%. To this end, from 2030, 200,000 tons of hydrogen and one million tons of ammonia will be used annually as co-firing fuels in KOWEPO power plants.

“It is essential to produce and procure clean hydrogen and ammonia from overseas to meet the government’s carbon neutral goals and boost the hydrogen economy. The United States allows us to preemptively secure competitive and reliable clean hydrogen and ammonia supplies with established clean fuel support policies” said Kang Se-hoon, Head of the Overseas New Business Division at Korea Western Power.

About Tallgrass

Tallgrass is a leading energy infrastructure company focused on safely, reliably, and sustainably delivering the energy and services that fuel homes and businesses and enable quality of life. We are committed to being at the forefront of efforts to decarbonize our world. An investor group led by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, which includes South Korean NPS, Enagás SA, GIC, and USS, owns the outstanding equity interests in Tallgrass. Learn more at www.Tallgrass.com.

About KOWEPO

KOWEPO is one of six generation subsidiaries of Korea Electric Power Corporation (“KEPCO”). We have a domestic generation capacity of 11,441 MW, or approximately 8.6% of total electricity generation capacity in Korea. Based on our mission to contribute to social development by creating safe and clean energy through continuous innovation, we plan to expand our generation capacity and enhance our generating systems in the electricity generation industry both domestically and internationally. In particular, given a shift in the energy paradigm that focuses on the environment, we are fully committed to increasing the portion of electricity we generate using renewable and alternative energy sources. Learn more at www.iwest.co.kr.

About Intersect Power

Intersect Power is a clean energy company bringing innovative and scalable low carbon solutions to its global customers. The company develops some of the world’s largest clean energy resources providing low-carbon electricity, fuels, and related products to its customers. Intersect Power has a base portfolio of 2.2 GW of solar PV and 1.4 GWH of co-located storage that is in operation or commissioning. The company’s business plan includes growth in grid-tied renewables, as well as large-scale clean energy assets such as green hydrogen. To learn more about Intersect Power, visit www.Intersectpower.com.