{"id":176649,"date":"2026-05-15T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=176649"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:45:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:45:03","slug":"up-catalyst-and-sgc-energy-partner-to-bring-sustainable-carbon-nanotube-and-graphite-production-to-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/up-catalyst-and-sgc-energy-partner-to-bring-sustainable-carbon-nanotube-and-graphite-production-to-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"UP Catalyst and SGC Energy Partner to Bring Sustainable\u00a0Carbon Nanotube\u00a0and Graphite Production to South Korea\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

UP Catalyst, Estonian deep-tech company converting industrial CO\u2082 emissions into battery-grade Graphite and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), is collaborating with South Korean industrial conglomerate SGC Energy to develop and commercialise its proprietary Molten Salt CO\u2082 Capture and Electrochemical Transformation (MSCC-ET) electrolysis technology in Korea.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership marks a significant step in UP Catalyst\u2019s Asian expansion strategy, bringing its carbon-negative battery raw material production technology to South Korea, home to global battery manufacturers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partnership Scope <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The two companies will collaborate across four key areas:
\u2013 Technology verification and performance evaluation
\u2013 Deployment of a demonstration system in Korea for local sample production
\u2013 Commercial-scale facility development serving the Korean CNT and graphite market
\u2013 Exploration of future cooperation models including joint venture, technology licensing and joint participation in government support projects<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SGC Energy will provide CO\u2082 supply and infrastructure, including access to SGC Energy\u2019s industrial-scale CCU facility at its Gunsan plant. UP Catalyst will contribute its proprietary technology, intellectual property and manufacturing expertise built at its pilot facility in Estonia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cCapturing CO\u2082 was the beginning of the journey for SGC. The real ambition is to close the loop and build a genuinely circular carbon model,\u201d said Ken Yoon, CSO of SGC Energy<\/strong>. \u201cUP Catalyst\u2019s technology represents exactly the kind of innovative solution Korea needs to decarbonise its industrial sector while strengthening domestic battery supply chains.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

SGC operates Korea\u2019s first and largest private-sector industrial-scale CCU facility at its Gunsan plant, capturing 100,000 tonnes of CO\u2082 annually to produce liquid carbon dioxide with a purity of over 99.9%.
 <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\u201cKorea
\u201cKorea is one of the most important battery markets in the world and SGC Energy is the ideal partner to bring our technology to Asia,\u201d said Rait Maasikas, CEO of UP Catalyst. \u201cThis partnership accelerates our mission to transform industrial CO\u2082 from a liability into a critical raw material for the global energy transition.\u201d \u00a9 UP Catalyst<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The partnership builds on more than a year of cross-border collaboration. Teams from both companies exchanged visits \u2014 UP Catalyst\u2019s pilot facility in Estonia and SGC Energy\u2019s Gunsan plant in Korea \u2014 to evaluate technology and infrastructure firsthand. The quality and consistency of UP Catalyst\u2019s nanocarbon output, observed during these visits, gave both teams the confidence to move forward.
\u00a0
In October 2025, a delegation including H.E. Tanel Sepp, Ambassador of Estonia to Korea, visited the Gunsan CCU facility alongside both teams. The visit strengthened the foundation for collaboration, with technical work, site evaluations and joint planning continuing in the months that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
\u00a9 UP Catalyst<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

About UP Catalyst<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UP Catalyst is a European deep-tech company that produces sustainable advanced materials \u2014 graphite, carbon nanotubes \u2014 by transforming captured CO\u2082 through its proprietary Molten Salt Carbon Capture and Electrochemical Transformation (MSCC-ET) technology. Backed by European Investment Bank (EIB) and recognised as a Strategic Project under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), UP Catalyst provides a carbon-negative and local alternative to fossil-based carbon imports for the battery and advanced materials industries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is currently finalising the transition from batch to continuous production and is preparing for large-scale factory deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About SGC Energy\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

SGC Energy Co., Ltd. is a South Korean eco-friendly energy company founded in 1967 and listed on the Korea Stock Exchange. The company operates as an eco-friendly energy company providing steam and electricity generation and distribution. SGC Energy is part of the broader SGC Group, headquartered in Seoul, Korea, which has been active in energy, construction and advanced materials for over five decades.
\u00a0
SGC Energy operates one of the largest CO\u2082 capture facilities in Korea, and is the first private-sector company to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UP Catalyst, Estonian deep-tech company converting industrial CO\u2082 emissions into battery-grade Graphite and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), is collaborating with South Korean industrial conglomerate SGC Energy to develop and commercialise its proprietary Molten Salt CO\u2082 Capture and Electrochemical Transformation (MSCC-ET) electrolysis technology in Korea. The partnership marks a significant step in UP Catalyst\u2019s Asian expansion strategy, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":176665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Estonian deep-tech company UP Catalyst partners with South Korean energy and industrial conglomerate SGC Energy to commercialise CO\u2082-to-carbon materials technology in Korea","footnotes":""},"categories":[5571],"tags":[14796,10744,25388,14120,12330,10416,14144,23962,10743],"supplier":[27941,21887],"class_list":["post-176649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-co2-based","tag-batteries","tag-carboncapture","tag-carbonnanotubes","tag-catalysis","tag-ccu","tag-circulareconomy","tag-electrolysis","tag-graphite","tag-useco2","supplier-sgc-energy","supplier-up-catalyst"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176666,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176649\/revisions\/176666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176649"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=176649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}