Wonsik Cho

Wonsik Cho serves as the Vice President of Samsung E&A, overseeing the sustainable technologies and business development. His responsibilities include managing venture investment and collaboration efforts related to technology scouting, scaling up, and commercializing emerging technologies in sustainable sectors such as carbon capture, green hydrogen, renewable fuels, and e-fuels.

Moreover, he leads the sales and marketing function within Samsung E&A's sustainable solutions business division. Wonsik is accountable for global sales and marketing in the energy transition sector, with a focus on developing projects in carbon capture and utilization, renewable fuels, and lower carbon solutions like hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol.

Prior to joining Samsung E&A in March 2023, he held the position of director of the technical sales group at Honeywell UOP. In this role, he was responsible for technical proposals, cost estimates, and business development for all of Honeywell UOP’s equipment businesses, including modular refineries, gas processing, hydrogen, midstream NGL plant, and licensor proprietary equipment.

Wonsik had led Honeywell UOP’s modular / equipment engineering group as the director of equipment engineering, contributing significantly to expanding engineering resources in India, Romania, Belgium, and South Korea. This expansion covered multidisciplinary engineering teams encompassing process, mechanical, piping, electrical, instrument, and control.

He played a crucial role in supporting breakthrough technology development and its deployment in collaboration with the R&D team.

Before his tenure at Honeywell UOP, he worked as an application and project engineer at SK Ecoplant for a decade, overseeing refining and petrochemical projects in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. He gained extensive experience managing field engineering, start-up, and commissioning activities at various jobsites in the Middle East and Europe.

Wonsik holds an MBA from Korea University in Seoul, Korea and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering from the same university.

Session Overview

Wednesday, 5 November

14:25

Downstream & Chemical Conference Room A 14:25 - 15:05

Redefining downstream: turning legacy assets into green hubs

A growing number of refineries and petrochemical producers are exploring ways to transform their operations to remain profitable, meet emerging policy demands and enable low-carbon production. This shift presents an opportunity to repurpose existing assets and align with long-term market expectations, but it also comes with significant financial, technological and logistical challenges. Retrofitting ageing refineries to produce biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and e-fuels – alongside the deployment of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) – is emerging as a key pathway to long-term competitiveness. Meanwhile, petrochemical facilities are advancing chemical recycling, bio-based chemicals and CO₂-derived feedstocks as part of broader decarbonisation strategies. Early adopters have shown that industrial collaboration, advanced processing technologies and scalable infrastructure are key to making this realignment viable. However, success will depend on regional policy support, investment certainty and long-term demand for low-carbon fuels and sustainable chemicals. Whether on a large scale or for only a select few facilities, the global energy industry must adopt a forward-thinking, solutions-driven approach to unlock change.

Attendee insights:

Explore the realities of turning traditional refining and petrochemical assets into low-carbon operations, and assess what makes these transitions successful

Wednesday, 6 November

12:45

Decarbonisation Conference Decarbonisation Theatre 12:45 - 13:15

View Session

Scaling investment in clean technology

The International Energy Agency estimates clean energy investment must reach $4.5 trillion per year by the early 2030s to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Despite the rapid growth of the clean tech sector and the new opportunities it creates for businesses and investors, clean energy investment remains significantly lower than required, due to the capital-intensive nature of clean energy projects and their long payback periods. Additionally, many of the technologies and solutions have not yet been proven in the market, adding another layer of investment risk. Supportive policies such as tax incentives, and financial innovations such as large public funding programmes, will pave the way for innovative cleantech projects to thrive.

Attendee insights:

Understand strategies for de-risking and incentivising clean technology investment.