Declares Carbon Neutrality by 2050
LG Chem will operate its electric vehicle battery plant in China with 100 percent renewable power starting in 2021. To this end, it has signed a contract with a Chinese wind and solar power distributor to purchase 140 GWh of renewable power annually, an amount that can meets the power demand of more than 30,000 households for a year.
LG Chem plans to operate its cathode material plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, only with renewable energy purchased from the Chinese power supplier starting in 2021. The deal is expected to save LG Chem 100,000 tons of carbon compared to general industrial power.
LG Chem has become the first Korean company to receive electric power at a fixed price through a direct contract. The Korean chemicals giant is expecting that it will proactively respond to regulations on carbon emissions in China as well as cut costs and stabilize power supply through the contract.
Following the Wuxi cathode material plant, LG Chem is considering introducing renewable energy power to its precursor plant in Zhejiang Province in the same way by 2021. Precursors, a raw material for cathode materials, are also a key material for batteries.
LG Chem built a precursor plant in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province in cooperation with Huayou Cobalt, the world's number one cobalt smelting company, and a cathode material plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province with an annual capacity of 40,000 tons, respectively. The two plants have been in full operation since October.
Precursors and cathode materials produced there are supplied to LG Energy Solutions’ Nanjing Battery Plant producing batteries for electric vehicles and ESSs and small-sized batteries in China and Wroclaw Battery Plant producing batteries for electric vehicles in Poland.
LG Chem declared in July that it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It was the first company in the Korean chemical industry to commit to such a goal.