Large construction corporations are growing into new businesses other than construction since issues that make the contemporary building industry tough have intensified, such as housing market instability, implementation of the Severe Accident Punishment Act, and raw material price rises. The sector is demonstrating its will to overcome long-term barriers in Korea by expanding internationally and establishing new firms.
Clean hydrogen-related industries are an area in which significant domestic construction corporations are competing for the first time. Because lowering carbon emissions is a key concern in the sector, hydrogen-related enterprises that do not generate carbon during the manufacturing process are likely to be highlighted, as hydrogen can be extracted using current plant process technology.
In December of last year, Samsung Engineering launched industry-academic-research cooperation with Lotte Chemical and Lotte Fine Chemical to carry out a national initiative for clean hydrogen generation, according to the construction industry. The Financial Supervisory Service said in January that it will invest 78 billion won this year in ESG (environmental, responsible, and transparent management)-based new enterprises, including hydrogen generation, through an electronic disclosure. “Since there is no dominant technology in the hydrogen production industry,” a Samsung Engineering official stated, “we hope to dominate the market with our plant building technology and investment collaboration.”
Lotte E&C also inked a ‘commercial agreement for the development of clean hydrogen production technology and the attainment of carbon neutrality with the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology’s Clean Technology Research Center last month. In collaboration with the Clean Technology Research Center, Lotte E&C intends to create a new carbon-free hydrogen generation process.
Samsung C&T also inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with POSCO and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF) in January to expand green hydrogen cooperation.
“We’re paying attention to the green hydrogen infrastructure industry as one of the foundations of future growth,” a Samsung C&T official said, “and we’re preparing associated companies utilizing our current power plant design and construction knowledge.” Samsung C&T invested in NewScale, a small module nuclear power plant (SMR) company that is a next-generation environmentally friendly energy source, last year.
DL ENC is supporting a firm that absorbs, stores, and uses carbon dioxide, a dangerous substance to the environment. We signed a ‘carbon-reducing eco-friendly building material business agreement’ with Hyundai Oilbank in August of last year to collect desulfurized gypsum and carbon dioxide from Hyundai Oilbank’s refinery in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do, and use it to make carbonation products that can be used as building materials like cement. chose to construct a factory
SK Ecoplant paid 1.2 trillion won for TES, a worldwide electric and electronic waste provider, last month. Tess, located in Singapore, is the firm with the most bases in nations in the field of electrical and electronic trash, and SK Ecoplant has a strategy based on this business to lead the worldwide electrical and electronic waste market.
On the 8th, Daewoo E&C stated that carbon credits from the Patrind hydroelectric power plant project in Kashmir, Pakistan were sold on the worldwide market. According to Daewoo E&C, this power station will create carbon credits till 2038. In addition, Daewoo E&C and SK D&D inked a joint development business agreement for the Gullupdo offshore wind power project at the end of last year.
GS E&C intends to develop its water treatment-related business, which it has been doing for some years, and promote the modular business aggressively. By purchasing GS Inima, a Spanish saltwater desalination firm in 2012, GS E&C expanded its market to Spain, Africa, and South America. It is also planning a smart aquaculture’ firm, which uses water treatment technologies to create clean seafood. Furthermore, we will aggressively grow the modular industry, in which a large portion of houses and manufacturing facilities is manufactured in factories and only installed on building sites. Danwood, a Polish firm that ranked fourth in sales in the German modular home market, was also bought by GS E&C in 2020.
“The environment is that construction firms are competitively leaping into new enterprises owing to the execution of the Severe Disaster Punishment Act, the threat of a housing market collapse, and rising raw material prices,” a construction industry official said.
