SK chief meets major business leaders in Europe to enhance cooperation

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Thu, November 30, 2023 | 10:15

Companies

SK chief meets major business leaders in Europe to enhance cooperation

Posted : 2023-03-06 16:10

Updated : 2023-03-07 08:39

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, right, meets Vestas Wind Systems CEO Henrik Andersen, left, the world's No. 1 wind turbine manufacturer, in Copenhagen, Denmark, March 2 (local time) to discuss business cooperation. Courtesy of SK Group

By Kim Hyun-bin

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met with key European businessmen during his visits to three European countries ― Spain, Denmark, and Portugal ― as a presidential envoy to enhance cooperation and seek out new business opportunities.

According to SK Group, Chey met with Henrik Anderson, CEO of Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems, the world's No. 1 wind turbine manufacturer, on March 2 (local time) to discuss ways to expand cooperation in the offshore wind power sector. Vestas previously announced at the Davos Forum in Switzerland in January that it would invest $300 million in a wind turbine production plant in Korea and relocate its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters to Korea.

During the meeting, Chey proposed cooperation in the development and sale of green hydrogen using water electrolysis technology as well as offshore wind power, with the two companies advancing into Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, using Korea as a hub.

Chey also met with Jakob Paulson, CEO of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), the world's largest green energy investment management company, to discuss cooperation in the overall eco-friendly energy sector, such as offshore wind power, energy storage systems (ESS), hydrogen and small modular reactors (SMR).

CIP, along with the Danish government, introduced the Artificial Island project, a complex renewable energy facility being promoted in the North Sea region, and suggested cooperation with SK and Korea.

"By establishing a corporate-level partnership on the basis of the Green Growth Alliance established between the Korean and Danish governments, it is an opportunity for both countries to lead the transition to eco-friendly energy throughout green value chains such as offshore wind power, hydrogen, ESS and batteries," an SK Group official said.

On March 3, Chey met with Philippe Silva, CEO of Galf, a Portuguese energy company, to discuss ways to expand their scope of cooperation to include offshore wind power, lithium refining, biofuel development and electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities.

Galf is emerging as a key player across the renewable energy sector in the Iberian Peninsula, Brazil, Mozambique and North Africa. Chey and Silva shared the opinion that the business transformation strategies of SK Group and Galf were similar, and agreed on the need to discover opportunities for cooperation across new and renewable energy and the circular economy.

"The highest-level meeting was held between the largest energy companies in Korea and Portugal, providing an opportunity to lead the energy transition and green growth vision of the two countries at the private level and expand economic cooperation," an SK Group official said.

hyunbin@koreatimes.co.kr