PR94870

HOUSTON, March 8, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

8 Rivers Capital, LLC announced a USD$100 million investment from SK Group,

along with the establishment of an 8 Rivers-SK joint venture to focus on

decarbonization of Korean and key Asian markets.  This investment establishes 8

Rivers as the premier Net Zero solutions company globally for industrial

decarbonization, offering innovative solutions that are deployment-ready today

and will help drive global decarbonization through 2050. This represents one of

the largest single private investments in a carbon capture solutions provider

to date, and was announced at S&P Global's CERA Week (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3464723-1&h=1495348417&u=https%3A%2F%2Fceraweek.com%2Findex.html&a=CERA+Week

) by IHS Markit

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1761550/8_Rivers_Capital.jpg

SK's investment will enable 8 Rivers to expand its world-class innovation and

execution team and will accelerate the deployment of 8 Rivers' clean

technologies at the pace and scale that customers and governments are now

demanding globally. As a leading South Korean industrial and high-tech

conglomerate, SK's technological and engineering capabilities will serve as a

force-multiplier for 8 Rivers, while SK will leverage the partnership to deploy

clean projects for its domestic and foreign operations.

The 8 Rivers-SK Asia Joint Venture will combine 8 Rivers' technology with SK's

regional footprint to deploy clean hydrogen and zero-emissions power projects

across major energy centers in the Asia-Pacific region --a region that

currently emits more carbon each year than the rest of the world combined, and

which is central to the world's economy and Net Zero goals.

"Decarbonizing the global economy is both a multi-trillion-dollar business

opportunity and, more importantly, an environmental and social necessity," said

8 Rivers CEO Cam Hosie. "I can imagine no better partner than the SK Group to

accelerate gigaton-scale deployment of 8 Rivers' clean, net-zero technologies,

helping drive economic and social development globally."

8 Rivers is a world-leading developer of innovative decarbonization

technologies which span hydrogen, power, direct air capture, and biomass carbon

removal, including invention of the 8RH2 clean hydrogen technology and the

paradigm-changing Allam-Fetvedt Cycle power generation system. 8 Rivers is

developing marquee zero-emissions projects in the United Kingdom (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3464723-1&h=1218848329&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fuk-england-tees-57827711.amp&a=United+Kingdom

) and the United States (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3464723-1&h=3364572552&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F2021-04-15%2Fu-s-startup-plans-to-build-first-zero-emission-gas-power-plants&a=%C2%A0United+States

), with a strong pipeline of global prospects.

"SK looks forward to accelerating the deployment of 8 Rivers' technologies

across the global energy market by combining SK's domestic and foreign energy

infrastructure, business capabilities, and 8 Rivers' world-class portfolio of

clean technologies and projects" said Young Wook Lee, President, of SK Inc.

Materials, "and the launch of our Asian joint venture with 8 Rivers is a key

initiative that cements SK's position as an energy transition leader in the

region."

Also, Lee added that "SK is actively investing in eco-friendly business to

achieve a 'Zero Carbon Footprint,' and SK is looking forward in order to reduce

200 million tons of CO2 through 2030. This deal with 8 Rivers is also aligned

with SK's goal for SK to be the leader in accomplishing Net Zero and to also

lead the global carbon reduction business with 8 Rivers and their innovative

carbon capture technology"

SK Group, the second largest conglomerate in South Korea with its largest

businesses primarily involved in energy industries, is committed to build

sustainable clean energy value chains in Korean and Asian markets. As such, SK

Group is a highly attractive strategic capital investor and partner for 8

Rivers' clean technology portfolio.

In order to accomplish Net Zero by 2050, production of renewable energy and

green hydrogen is inevitable, and needs to form part of a comprehensive

'all-of-the-above' approach with a broad suite of technologies that account for

investment efficiency, space for installment, and supply stability, in order to

make global decarbonization a reality.

In reflecting on the importance of the SK partnership, Bill Brown, co-founder

and Executive Chairman of 8 Rivers Capital, noted that: "Partnerships are

precious.  At the simplest level, they are about compatibility of execution,

but more importantly, they are about the compatibility of vision. Of all the

potential investors that approached 8 Rivers over the last 15 years, SK was the

first that fully shared our vision of a whole ESG system. To get to Net Zero,

McKinsey (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3464723-1&h=1658714093&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mckinsey.com%2Fbusiness-functions%2Fsustainability%2Four-insights%2Fthe-economic-transformation-what-would-change-in-the-net-zero-transition&a=McKinsey

) has estimated the world needs to spend $25 billion per day for 30 years.  No

single company today is suited for that scale.  SK and 8 Rivers know and

understand that we need a new business model that does not trace its existence

to any single company today.  Instead, that model will be an amalgamation

across silos--much like Amazon.  Since the expansion of decarbonization

technologies including carbon capture is imminent, both 8 Rivers and SK are

focusing on the energy system and on the customers, and not on just one

technology.  That combination is what will allow our two firms to create the

premier global net-zero company that will lead the world's clean technology

future."

ABOUT 8 RIVERS CAPITAL LLC: 8 Rivers Capital, LLC is a Durham, NC-based firm

founded in 2008 which is leading the invention and commercialization of

sustainable, infrastructure-scale technologies for the global energy transition

as the premier net zero solutions company for industrial decarbonization.  8

Rivers is developing and deploying technologies for clean hydrogen and ammonia

(8RH2), transformative zero-emissions power cycles (Allam-Fetvedt Cycle) direct

air capture (Calcite), retrofit carbon capture (Carbon8), sour gas sweetening

(TarT), clean ethylene (Codox), and other advanced clean energy systems.

www.8Rivers.com.

ABOUT SK GROUP: Based in Seoul, South Korea, SK Group is a collection of

diverse multi-national manufacturing and service companies united under a

holding company structure that share a common SK Brand and Corporate Culture.

SK Group companies are global leaders in semiconductors, telecommunications,

energy and life sciences. Across its companies, SK is committed to building

environmentally sustainable businesses that help reduce global greenhouse gas

emissions and increase the use of renewable energy. SK Group is a founding

member of the Value Balancing Alliance. SK companies combined have $106 billion

in annual global revenue and more than 100,000 employees worldwide. www.sk.com

CONTACT: Andrew Turner, andrew.turner@madano.com, +44 (0) 7702 962043, Adam

Goff, adam.goff@8rivers.com, +1 267-528-8471

SOURCE: 8 Rivers Capital, LLC