SK E&S will build Korea's first eco-friendly hydrogen logistics center together with Coupang and Kendall Square.
Signed a business agreement with Coupang and Kendall Square to introduce hydrogen forklifts to Coupang's Mokcheon Logistics Center

SK E&S, Coupang and Kendall Square are the first in Korea to build an eco-friendly hydrogen logistics center. SK Plug Hyverse, a joint venture specializing in hydrogen business between SK E&S and Plug Power, is a joint venture with Coupang Fulfillment Service, Kendall Square Asset Management and 'Eco-friendly Hydrogen Distribution Center Construction and Operation Business. It announced on the 1st that it had signed an MOU for implementation. [caption id="attachment_105036" align="alignnone" width="896"]

From left) Jong-cheol Jeong, CEO of Coupang Fulfillment Service, Ji-young Lee, vice president of SK E&S Hydrogen Global Group and CEO of SK Plug Hibus, and Yong-woong Moon, CEO of Kendall Square Asset Management, built and operated an eco-friendly hydrogen logistics center at the H2MEET 2022 event held at KINTEX in Ilsan on the 1st. They are taking a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement for business promotion. (Photo=SK E&S)[/caption] Coupang Fulfillment Service is a logistics subsidiary of Coupang, the leading e-commerce company in Korea. Coupang has more than 100 logistics infrastructures in more than 30 regions across the country, and Kendall Square is a domestic logistics investment and development platform company that currently operates 42 logistics centers. The agreement includes the introduction of hydrogen forklift trucks at the Coupang Mokcheon Logistics Center located in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, and the establishment of infrastructure such as hydrogen charging stations to cooperate to build the 'Korea's first eco-friendly hydrogen logistics center'. The Coupang Mokcheon Logistics Center, where the project is being promoted, has a site area of 148,000 square meters (about 45,000 pyeong) and is owned and operated by Kendall Square and leased from Coupang. First of all, Coupang decided to test-operate some battery-based electric forklifts operating at the Mokcheon Logistics Center in the second half of next year by converting them to hydrogen forklifts. SK Plug Hibus plans to supply hydrogen forklifts, build hydrogen charging stations, and supply hydrogen fuel such as blue and green hydrogen. Kendall Square plans to cooperate in providing a site for building a hydrogen charging station and securing licenses. In the future, we plan to review the plan to expand and apply the 'eco-friendly hydrogen logistics center' model to other logistics centers in Coupang and Kendall Square. This MOU is meaningful in that SK E&S, a leading company in the domestic hydrogen industry, and Coupang, a leading e-commerce company, will join hands to improve the eco-friendliness of the logistics industry. Recently, the eco-friendly wind to reduce carbon emissions is blowing in the logistics industry as well. Forklifts, which are essential transportation equipment in logistics centers, use diesel as fuel, and environmental pollution problems such as noise and soot have been pointed out. Although conversion to battery-based electric forklifts is increasing recently, there have been limitations due to the relatively short operating time and charging time of 6 hours. In the case of a hydrogen forklift, it can operate for 8 hours on a single charge and can be charged quickly in about 3-5 minutes, greatly improving work efficiency and productivity. In addition, hydrogen fuel cells not only emit no greenhouse gas, but also have an air purification function that inhales and removes fine dust in the air, making it possible to maintain a comfortable working environment in logistics centers. In particular, SK E&S explained that SK Plug Hiverse has differentiated competitiveness in the hydrogen distribution center construction business based on Plug's fuel cell technology, which boasts 95% of the US hydrogen forklift market share. Plug is the global No. 1 company that supplies more than 60,000 fuel cell power packs for hydrogen forklifts to distribution and logistics companies in the US and Europe such as Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot. Plug's hydrogen fuel cell system, GenDrive, is an all-in-one package and can be simply installed in the battery room of an existing battery-based electric forklift, so it can be applied to more than 100 electric forklift models around the world. Currently, SK Plug Hibus plans to build a hydrogen facility production and research base in Incheon, 'Giga-factory', to produce hydrogen fuel cell products in Korea by the end of 2023. Major forklifts such as Doosan Bobcat and Clark We are also working with manufacturers. Lee Ji-young, vice president of SK E&S Hydrogen Global Group and CEO of SK Plug Hiverse, said, “This MOU is meaningful in that it has laid the foundation for the first 'eco-friendly hydrogen logistics center' in Korea. We will contribute to accelerating the construction of a hydrogen ecosystem in the future by providing an integrated solution in the hydrogen field, including the supply of fuel cells for vehicles and power generation.”

SK E&S-Coupang & Plug Power to Build Korea's First Hydrogen Logistics Center