Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
LG Energy Solution steps up to join RE100
By Baek Byung-yeul
Kwon Young-soo, CEO of LG Energy Solution / Courtesy of LG Energy Solution
By Baek Byung-yeul
LG Energy Solution is actively seeking to join the Renewable Energy 100 (RE100) initiative at its business sites, as the battery cell maker moves to expand its renewable energy distribution by purchasing a wind and solar power energy-based renewable energy certificate (REC) from Jeju Island, the company said Sunday.
In April 2021, LG Energy Solution announced it will join RE100, a global initiative of businesses committed to 100-percent renewable energy, for the first time among battery cell makers here. In RE100, 100 percent of the electricity a company uses is converted from a renewable energy source.
The company said that it has purchased a 23-gigawatt-hour certificate from Jeju Energy Corporation, the Jeju Provincial Government and the Dongbok-ri area of the southern resort island to expand the distribution of renewable energy produced at its Ochang plant in North Chungcheong Province.
With the purchase of the certificate, the Ochang plant's rate of renewable energy conversion ― which refers to the process of transforming energy from renewable energy sources into electricity ― will more than triple to 50 percent in 2022 from 16 percent in 2021.
“The company estimates it will be able to expand the rate of renewable energy conversion to more than 60 percent at all production sites around the world this year,” the company said.
Under its plan, the company's first and second battery plants in Nanjing, China are expected to achieve the 100-percent renewable energy goal by 2022. Its European plant in Poland and U.S. plant in Michigan already achieved the RE100 goal in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
“The need to join RE100 is increasing due to growing investment in renewable energy and increased demands from customers and investors to respond to climate change,” Kwon Young-soo, the CEO of the company, said in a statement. “As batteries are a key product in the era of carbon neutrality, we will continue to be a model company for reducing carbon emissions.”