LG Energy Solution to triple ESS sales in 5 years' time via US expansion

LG Energy Solution's booth at RE+ 2023 in Las Vegas, the United States / Courtesy of LG Energy Solution

By Ko Dong-hwan

LG Energy Solution (LGES)'s goal to dominate the world's energy storage system (ESS) market has taken a step forward by showcasing its latest technologies at an international exhibition in the United States.

RE+ 2023, the biggest renewable ESS exhibition in the U.S., has introduced the Korean company to almost 1,300 other enterprises from around the world, who are involved in the ESS development and production industry. The exhibition in Las Vegas runs from Monday to Thursday, local time.

LG considers the U.S. as the world's fastest-rising ESS market. Wood Mackenzie, the U.K.-based energy research and consulting firm, predicted that the American ESS market will grow from 12 Gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2022 to 103 GWh by 2030, nearly a tenfold increase.

At RE+ 2023, the Korean firm has prepared its booth to promote its capabilities in developing and producing world-leading ESS products. LG exhibited its latest ESS products including modular-type water cooling container products for LFP cell-based power distribution networks as well as LG enblock S, a lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NCM) battery-based ESS product for residential spaces.

An official from LG's ESS sector said the company's goal is to triple the sector's overall sales in five years. To accomplish that, dominating the American market is necessary. It decided earlier this year to invest 3 trillion won ($2.26 billion) in building a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery factory in Arizona.

The factory is expected to break ground later this year and its completion and mass production in 2026. The factory's end product, a pouch-type LFP battery created exclusively by LG, will have an annual production capacity of about 16 GWh.

The official said LG will make plenty more follow-ups regarding investing in the U.S.

LG has announced its four key strategies to expand its pie in the American ESS market: launching a large-size local factory for mass production; building a strong local distribution network; developing the world's most innovative LFP battery technologies; and building up comprehensive system integration (SI) capabilities from supply to business planning, blueprinting, installation, maintenance and repair.

The company last year founded a corporate body dedicated to ESS SI called LG Energy Solution Vertech in Massachusetts.