October 07, 2024

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LG Energy Solution's exhibition booth at RE+ 2024, North America’s largest clean energy expo that took place in September (LG Energy Solution)

LG Energy Solution has reaffirmed its commitment to growing its presence in the rapidly expanding North American energy storage system market, aiming to capitalize on the region’s increasing demand for sustainable energy solutions.

In a recent interview with UK-based industry publication Energy Storage News, Kim Hyung-sik, vice president and head of the ESS battery division at LG Energy Solution, outlined the company’s strategy for targeting North America. He emphasized the crucial role the US will play in the global energy storage sector in the coming years, citing projections that the US will surpass China in ESS installations by 2028.

"Demand for energy storage systems in North America is expected to be very strong," Kim said. "To meet this demand and offer differentiated value to our customers, it's essential that we focus on local production."

As part of its strategy, LG Energy Solution is building eight battery manufacturing facilities in North America. The company is also working to optimize its production capacity by repurposing some of its existing electric vehicle battery manufacturing lines for ESS production. This shift comes in response to fluctuating demand in the EV market, which has left some factory lines underutilized.

"We’ve decided to repurpose these EV battery lines for ESS production to better serve the energy storage market," Kim explained.

A few months earlier in June, the company put a temporary hold on the construction of a new ESS factory in Arizona. He added that this decision was not driven by any downturn in the ESS market, but rather by the opportunity to make more efficient use of their existing facilities.

To strengthen its position in North America, LG Energy Solution is pursuing a localization strategy aimed at building closer ties with local customers and partners. This includes providing fully integrated solutions through its US subsidiary, LG Energy Solution Vertech, which offers comprehensive services ranging from battery production to system integration.

"By localizing our operations and working closely with Vertech, we can offer a seamless, all-in-one solution to our customers in the US. This allows us to provide greater value by delivering everything through a single contract," said Kim.

By Moon Joon-hyun (mjh@heraldcorp.com)