Hyosung Heavy Industries (298040) has strengthened the low-carbon production base at its Changwon plant.
Starting in May, Hyosung Heavy Industries' Changwon plant will procure 1.6 megawatts (MW) of solar power from an external power generator under a power purchase agreement (PPA). The Changwon plant has been operating a 5.3 MW in-house solar power generation facility. With the new PPA, renewable energy use at the plant will increase about 30% from current levels.
A PPA is a system under which a company signs a contract with a power generator to buy and use renewable energy. The Changwon plant will receive solar power from Taean Solar Farm through renewable energy firm Encored. The arrangement allows the company to secure eco-friendly electricity stably over the long term without installing separate generation facilities.
Taean Solar Farm, a subsidiary of Hyosung Heavy Industries, has operated a 1.6 MW solar power plant in Sogeun-ri, Sowon-myeon, Taean-gun, South Chungcheong Province, since 2008. All electricity generated at the site will be supplied to Hyosung Heavy Industries' Changwon plant.
Hyosung Heavy Industries expects the contract to cut greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 966 tons annually, equivalent to the yearly carbon dioxide absorption of about 146,000 pine trees.
"As global customers increasingly check products' carbon emissions and renewable energy use, manufacturing plants' efforts to reduce carbon emissions are emerging as an important competitive edge," a Hyosung Heavy Industries official said. "We plan to combine in-house solar generation with PPAs to respond to changes in the global market."
