Australian, Canadian producers to supply ammonia for power generation to South Korea

Pilot Energy approved by Korean Clean Hydrogen Production Standard (CHPS) scheme

Australia-based Pilot Energy has been approved as a potential low-emission ammonia fuel supplier for power generation in South Korea. In May 2025 the South Korean government announced that a clean hydrogen power bidding market would be established, including ammonia co-firing at existing coal power stations. The annual bidding volume will be 6,500 GWh, with a contract period of 15 years. Commercial operations must begin by 2028 (following three years of preparation period plus one year of grace period.

Establishment of this market will be via the newly-implemented Clean Hydrogen Production Standard (CHPS) scheme. Korean power generators bidding in the CHPS scheme auction are required to guarantee access to fuel supply from a project that has pre-qualified under the CHPS hydrogen certification scheme. Pilot’s ammonia production project in western Australia has now pre-qualified thanks to approval by the Korean Energy Economics Institute, which will act as the key regulator and manager of the certification process for CHPS.

CHPS also includes a subsidy program for South Korean industrial users to offset the energy cost difference between clean hydrogen and ammonia versus the cost of thermal coal and other fossil fuels. Pilot is targeting the supply of 1 million tons per year of CCS-based ammonia from its Mid West Clean Energy Project to South Korea. As well as co-firing, the ammonia will be used for industrial consumption.

Last year Pilot indicated that it would be utilising 8 Rivers’ 8RH₂ technology for the production of hydrogen, integrated with Cliff Head storage reservoir in western Australia. An electrolytic hydrogen feedstock stream will eventually be introduced at the project, with the oxygen by-product from electrolysis able to be purified and fed into the 8RH2 process as feedstock.

Hydrogen Canada signs MoU with Korea Southern Power

Korea Southern Power (KOSPO) will work with Hydrogen Canada Corporation (HCC) to jointly develop HCC’s CCS-based ammonia production project in Alberta, Canada. The 1 million tons per year facility will be located in the Alberta Industrial Heartland, with FEED work to begin in early 2025. KOSPO owns around 10% of generating assets in South Korea’s national grid, making it a likely participant in the Clean Hydrogen Production Standard (CHPS) scheme.

This project represents an opportunity to use cost-advantaged, low-carbon natural gas in Alberta to support the decarbonization of South Korea and other Asian countries and to provide a level of energy security to those countries as well. Access to cost-effective carbon sequestration also creates a material strategic advantage for this project in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Our partner, E1 Corp., is a major trader of LPG in Asia, including significant volumes of Canadian LPG and it recognizes the marketability of low-cost, reliable energy products sourced from western Canada.

Brendan O’Connell, VP Business Development at Hydrogen Canada Corporation in his organisation’s official press release, 30 Oct 2024