Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia. Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

A local public-private energy consortium is seeking to build a green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Neom, Saudi Arabia, the industry ministry said, Wednesday.

This project is the latest effort to spearhead joint growth opportunities between Korea and the Middle Eastern country over the five-stage construction project of $500 billion (662 trillion won) involving the new smart city being built in Tabuk Province, as advanced by the Korea-Saudi Vision 2030 Committee.

Anchoring such developments is the visit of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia, to Korea, Thursday.

The consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) is joined by two of its state-run peers ― Korea National Oil Corp. and Korea Southern Power Corp. ― as well as steelmaker POSCO and Samsung C&T, the construction and engineering affiliate of Samsung Group.

The consortium plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, with about $620 billion in assets under management.