Teams up with 7 Partners for Joint R&D

SK E&S’s Hydrogen Drone Booth at the 2021 Drone Show Korea at BEXCO in Busan 

SK E&S will embark on a project to commercialize liquefied hydrogen drones that can fly for a long time. Hydrogen drone technology is expected to help the logistics and transportation sectors to introduce innovative services such as drone-based delivery and drone taxi cabs.

SK E&S announced at the 2021 Drone Show Korea held at BEXCO in Busan on April 29 that it will push for joint research and development on liquefied hydrogen drones with seven Korean hydrogen drone companies and institutions.

SK E&S, which announced an 18-trillion-won investment plan to promote its hydrogen business earlier this year, plans to use its win-win growth fund to support research and development of small and venture companies specializing in drones.


Companies that will join SK E&S include Exens (drone production), the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Hylium Industries (fuel cell power packs), and FineVT (software).

Hydrogen drones use high energy density hydrogen as fuel. Although they are light, they are able to transport heavy objects. They are drawing a lot of attention as they can realize drone-based delivery services and drone taxi cabs in the future.

SK E&S is planning to support production of drones powered by liquefied hydrogen as they have strong commercial potential. Liquefied hydrogen has higher storage density than gas hydrogen so they can contribute to making fuel tanks lighter. Its storage pressure is one-hundredth that of gas. Moreover, liquefied hydrogen gas ia highly stabe. It allows drones to fly for a long time.

SK E&S plans to purchase a plot of land on the premise of SK Incheon Petrochemical Complex in Incheon and build a plant with an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons by 2023. Liquefied hydrogen drones are expected to act as a catalyst in promoting the early utilization of liquefied hydrogen.

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