The world’s top battery company ‘LG Energy Solution ( www.lgensol.com )’ was officially launched.

Regarding this, LG Energy Solution held its inaugural assembly and board meeting on the 1st and announced that it appointed Kim Jong Hyun as its first president.

President Kim Jong Hyun joined LG Household & Health Care in 1984 and then went on to serve at the LG Group Chairman’s Office, head of the LG Chem Rubber/Specialty Polymers Division, head of the IT & New Application Battery Division, and head of the Advanced Automotive Battery Division, and finally the president of the Energy Solution Company in 2018, placing the battery division at the unrivaled number 1 position in the world.

President Kim said in his launching address, “LG Energy Solution pioneered with an unwavering challenging spirit for the Korean battery industry, in which the said industry was practically nonexistent, and overcame many concerns and difficulties, and recently became the first to pave the foundation for creating structural profits in the EV battery business before any other competitor.

He added, “We have now successfully spun off the company to reach for higher dreams and have now set out on a great voyage.”
He then added with emphasis, “This voyage is the path of LG Energy Solution to become a leading eco-friendly company that provides higher value than expected with the best technologies and quality, while innovatively improving quality of life for humanity, and more importantly, the way to give the greatest value for every one of our members who grow together with the company and feel a sense of pride.”

He added, “The achievements that we have made so far are greater than you think, and I ask that you believe in this power and confidently open the doors to the future.”

The new corporation was named ‘LG Energy Solution’ and its name represents ‘a specialized company that offers various solutions for energy to create a better world.’

LG Energy Solution employs approximately 22,000 people (approximately 7,000 in Korea and 15,000 abroad) globally and it has a global business system comprised of production bases in Ochang of Korea, Michigan of the USA, Xingang/Binjiang of China, and Wroclaw of Poland, and R&D tech centers in Daejeon of Korea, Troy of the USA, Nanjing of China, and Frankfurt of Germany.

The expected revenue of this year is estimated at 13 trillion, and plans are to achieve 30 trillion KRW in sales by 2024 to become the ‘world’s best energy solutions company.’

For this, LG Energy Solution plans to expand investments at the right time and place to strengthen its business competitiveness and lead the market using advanced process technologies such as innovative high-performance products and smart factories.

Furthermore, it also plans to become equipped with distinguished competitiveness in the E-Platform sector that offers various services throughout the lifecycle of batteries including battery care/lease/charging/reuse, etc., while contributing to the expansion of the EV market and enhancement of the social values of batteries.

In addition, plans are to continuously procure growth momentum by accelerating next-generation battery technology development such as developing solid state batteries and lithium sulfur batteries.

Meanwhile, the first chairman of the board of directors of LG Energy Solution will be Chief Executive Officer Hak Cheol Shin.

LG Energy Solution explained the reason for its appointment stating that Chief Executive Officer Shin contributed to maximizing synergy effects with the parent company LG Chem and has expertise and balanced perception for global businesses, which is expected to have a positive impact on the battery business that is heavily based on overseas businesses.

LG Chem Poland Plant has been firmly accredited as a model case for sustainable management.

In respect of this, on the 10th, LG Chem has announced that it won the Gold Award for ‘Sustainable Energy Category’ in the Sustainability Awards conducted by the EBRD, a European financial institution, on an annual basis.

* EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

LG Chem has been recognized for making outstanding contributions towards supplying electric vehicles in Europe as well as improving the environment at the same time. LG Chem is planning to ensure that its electric vehicle battery plant in Poland will reach a production capacity of 65GWh or above by the end of this year, which is the world’s largest production capacity as a single plant and will allow it to supply 1 million high performance pure electric vehicles per year.

1 million vehicles are 6% of the overall cars (gasoline, diesel or electric vehicles, etc.) sold in Europe, and in fact if a 65GWh battery is installed in an electric vehicle, it will contribute to the annual reduction of over 1 million tons of CO2 emissions.

The European Union has recently introduced a stricter CO2 emission standard by reducing its average CO2 emission level from 130g/km to 95g/km. A penalty of €95 for each g/km of excess emissions per vehicle will be imposed. It has also declared its aim to be carbon neutral by 2050 and raised its target for cutting greenhouse gas emission, setting a reduction goal of 55% by 2030 compared to the 1990 target of 40%.

The EBRD has been conducting the ‘Sustainability Awards’ annually by selecting business entities that demonstrate outstanding achievements in sustainable management among projects financed by the EBRD itself.

The Sustainability Awards select winners for gold (best), silver and bronze awards respectively in five specific categories in total (Sustainable Energy, Climate Resilience, Environmental and Social Practice, Environmental and Social Innovation, Gender and economic Inclusion) and this year, a total of 16 entities were finally selected from 47 nominees.

Generally, the winning entities are invited to an annual general meeting of the EBRD and receive awards at a separate ceremony, however this year, the ceremony was conducted online due to Covid-19.

In addition to this, LG Chem also secures power for operating plants with renewable energy and engages in sustainable management activities in every direction.

LG Chem Poland Plant has been using 100% renewable energy since 2019 and its Michigan Plant in the U.S. has also started to use 100% renewable energy since July, 2020. Also, Its Ochang Plant in Korea and Nanjing Plant in China will adopt 100% renewable energy by 2025.

LG Chem declared ‘Carbon-Neutral Growth 2050’ for the first time in the domestic chemical industry, and it is also the first Korean company to push for RE100 (Renewable Energy 100) in all operations across the world. RE100 means producing products only with 100% renewable energy

Furthermore, LG Chem takes the initiative in establishing the economic cycle system such as recycling discarded batteries and actively participates in the management of responsible supply networks by expanding due diligence conducted on supply networks through an external institution even including raw materials for batteries such as cobalt.

- Conducted a first flight test using a lithium-sulfur battery in Korea

- Flied with a stable output even at 70 degrees below zero and atmospheric pressure of 1/25 of one at ground level

“LG Chem will consolidate its position as the leading firm in the global battery market by focusing on research and development of the next generation battery sector.””

LG Chem has succeeded in flight testing of an unmanned vehicle at the highest altitude using the next generation battery for the first time in Korea.

In respect of this LG Chem announced that a high-altitude long-endurance solar-powered unmanned vehicle (EAV-3) developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute has successfully finished flight testing in the environment of the stratosphere using its lithium-sulfur battery, on 10. * Stratosphere: it is an atmospheric layer ranging from 12-50km altitude between the troposphere (the ground – 12km) and the mesosphere (50-80km).

EAV-3 is a small aircraft which can fly in the stratospheric altitude of 12km or higher for a long period of time using solar energy and batteries. It charges energy using a solar cell placed on the top of the wing. During the daytime, it flies utilizing a solar cell and battery power as a source of energy and during the night time, it utilizes battery power charged during the day time. It has wings of 20m long and a body of 9m long.

On 30 August, LG Chem loaded a lithium-sulfur battery on EAV-3 at the Aviation Center of Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Goheung and conducted flight testing approximately for 13 hours from 08:36AM to 09:47PM. LG Chem is the first company in Korea which conducted flight testing using a lithium-sulfur battery.

Especially, EAV-3 flew in the altitude of 22kms, which is unprecedented for a domestic unmanned aircraft, and achieved a new record of flying at the highest attitude in the stratosphere in Korea. Also, it flew for 7 hours out of a total of 13 flight hours with a stable output in the stratospheric altitude of 12-22km where a general aircraft cannot fly.

This fight testing is highly significant as it confirmed a stable charge/discharge function of a lithium-sulfur battery, the next generation battery in the extreme environment of the stratosphere with a low temperature of 70 degrees below zero and atmospheric pressure of 1/25 of one at ground level, which is close to a vacuum state.

A lithium-sulfur battery is one of the next generation batteries which will replace a lithium-ion battery, and its energy density is 1.5 times higher than the existing lithium-ion battery, which has a high energy density per weight, as it uses lightweight materials such as sulfur and carbon compounds for anode materials and lithium metal, etc. for cathode materials. The merit of the lithium-sulfur battery is that it is lighter and more competitive in terms of price compared to the existing lithium-ion battery as it does not use rare metals.

Also, it is considered as a key component that would determine the function of the future transportation such as electronic cars as well as long-endurance drones and personal aircraft, etc. and many countries in the world are competing intensely for the development of the same.

For a year and 6 months, LG Chem Future Technology Research Center’s Innovative Battery Project Team has conducted research on the development of a lithium-sulfur battery in the low temperature and atmospheric pressure by creating the extreme environment similar to the stratosphere, and could successfully complete this flight testing based on such research.

LG Chem plans to demonstrate a long-endurance flight that lasts more than a number of days by producing additional trial products of lithium-sulfur batteries in the future. Moreover, it plans to mass-produce a lithium-sulfur battery that has an energy density more than twice that of the present lithium-ion battery after 2025.

Kisu Ro, the CTO/President of LG Chem, mentioned “LG Chem has proved that it has the world’s best technology in the sector of the next generation battery with a high energy density from this flight testing” and “it will consolidate its position as the leading firm in the global battery market by focusing on research and development of the next generation battery sector”.