SK E&C makes a fresh start with its new name SK ecoplant Co, which was approved during the 59th regular shareholders’ meeting on April 26. SK E&C President Ahn Jae-hyun speaks at the session.

SK E&C is changing its name to SK ecoplant Co. The move may be construed as the company’s bid to expand energy and environmental businesses in its portfolio.

The company wanted to remove construction from its name, eliminating the bad image the word comes with.

The name change was be approved during an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on May 21 at SK E&C headquarters.

SK E&C was established in the name of Hyupwoo Industry in 1962. The construction company was acquired by Sunkyong Group, the processor of SK Group, in 1977.

The group converted its name to Sunkyong E&C in 1984 before changing it to the current SK E&C in 1988.

SK E&C’s name change comes 23 years after its last one. The newest name change is designed to highlight eco-friendliness in accordance with its ESG management tenets.

In his New Year’s message, SK E&C President Ahn Jae-hyun revealed the plan to make the contractor reposition as an eco-friendly company spearheading ESG and restructure its business portfolio, focusing on eco-friendly businesses.

Last year, SK E&C took over the environmental services company, EMC Holdings, Korea’s No. 1 wastewater treatment company, It specializes in sewage treatment, excrement disposal, sludge drying/incineration and piping. SK E&C is expanding eco-friendly businesses by making the most of the recycling technologies owned by EMC Holdings.

Entering this year, SK E&C acquired the remaining stake in Ystech, a landfill company in Gyeongju.

From an organizational standpoint, SK E&C announced a plan to inaugurate the eco business division and implement the smart green industrial complex business.

The smart green industrial complex business is one of the top 10 “Green New Deal” tasks, being pushed by the government. The business involves creation of digital-based eco-friendly space.

Regardless of business areas, SK E&C is accelerating efforts to nurture new growth drivers. In January last year, SK E&C teamed with Bloom Energy of the U.S. to launch hydrogen fuel cell businesses.

Last year, SK E&C struck an MOU to invigorate the hydrogen business with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. SK E&C, which expanded a hydrogen business department into the hydrogen business division, is trying to nurture hydrogen energy business models.

The move is in keeping with SK Group’s bid to establish a hydrogen supply chain within its affiliates. Energy affiliate SK E&S will produce liquefied hydrogen, while SK E&C will generate power from hydrogen with its fuel cells.

When their businesses stabilize, SK E&C is anticipated to be in charge of constructing SK Group’s hydrogen infrastructure.

A view of photovoltaic power panels installed on the rooftop of SK E&C’s construction site structures in Korea. (Photos: SK ecoplant)

SK E&C Accelerates Bid to Secure Carbon Credits in Vietnam & Korea

SK E&C, ramping up ESG management with a focus on eco-friendly and new energy businesses, is pulling out all the stops to secure carbon credits in Korea and abroad.

SK E&C said the company registered two Program of Activity (PoA) projects in Vietnam and Korea. PoA is operated by the Ministry of Environment under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The projects are designed to secure carbon credits, which are used in Korea.

SK E&C finished registering a renewable energy project being pushed in Vietnam as one of the PoA projects under the CDM of UNFCCC.

SK E&C became the first Korean contractor to have its project registered as one of the PoA projects.