GS Caltex starts work on carbon material plant

GS Caltex Co., South Korea`s second-largest refiner, said Tuesday that it has broken ground for a plant to produce carbon materials for high-end energy storage devices in the country`s southeast, according to Yonhap News.



GS Caltex signed a formal deal with Nippon Oil Corp., Japan`s top oil company, in January to set up a 50-50 joint venture called Power Carbon Technology to produce the carbon materials.



Under the deal, the two companies will invest a combined US$10 million to build a plant in Gumi, 260 km southeast of Seoul. The plant will begin commercial production in April next year, GS Caltex said in a statement.



It added the plant will have an initial annual production capacity of 300 tons of carbon materials that will be expanded to 900 tons by 2015.



The energy storage devices, known as Electric Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC), are mainly used in hybrid electric vehicles.