RE100, what's the trend of Korean companies? Are they following appropriately?

ESG has become a hot topic to the extent that "RE100" was mentioned at a debate on presidential candidates a few days ago, but problems are scattered

URL : https://www.there100.org

Which Korean company joined it?

According to the RE100 Committee on the 15th, Korean companies that have joined are as follows.

  *7 companies including SK Hynix and SK Telecom

  *14 companies including LG Energy Solution, Korea Zinc, KB Financial

  *Samsung Electronics, Korea's largest company, has not yet participated. 

RE100 is an international campaign aimed at covering 100% of the amount of electricity used by companies with renewable energy such as wind and solar power by 2050.

Global companies such as 3M, Starbucks, Nike, Apple, Chanel, PWC, Google GM, Goldman Sachs, Meta, Microsoft, Unilever, BMW, and Intel have joined.

What's the speed of Korean companies?

SK Group is the fastest place in Korea. For the first time in December 2020, affiliates within SK Group joined RE100. SKIET has decided to convert 100% into renewable energy by 2030, SK Siltron by 2040, and SK Hynix and other companies by 2050.

LG Energy Solution and Amorepacific set their goals for 2030 and KB Financial Group Lotte Chilsung Beverage for 2040.

Samsung Electronics is being asked to participate in RE100 and use renewable energy from Greenpeace. As such, civil society and the financial sector are calling for RE100, but they are still hesitant.

URL : https://www.samsung.com

Why is Samsung Electronics absent?

Samsung Electronics' overseas businesses have already reached the RE100 standard last year by converting to 100% eco-friendly energy. Nevertheless, they are reticent about the application in Korea.

Why? They say that the unit price of renewable energy in Korea is not cheap...

Samsung failed to win foundry order... Global competition is brutal 💀

In fact, in developed countries such as Europe, there are many places that have achieved Grid Parity, the point where thermal and renewable energy costs become the same...

According to official data from Korea Electric Power Corporation, the unit price per kilowatt hour (kWh) by power source last year was 149.9 won in renewable energy.

This is much more expensive than nuclear power (59.69 won), coal power (81.62 won), hydroelectric power (81.73 won), and LNG power (99.25 won).

What are the trends of global companies?

Google is getting ahead of itself by declaring it CF100... (Of course, unlike manufacturing, Google has advantages because it is an IT company.)

CF100, short for Carbon Free 100%, has the concept of supplying all of its power used with carbon-free energy. Carbon-free energy sources include nuclear power in addition to wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. CF100 has not yet established itself as an official campaign.

CF100 emerged when Google declared it in 2018. Google has made '24×7 Carbon Free' a key energy policy for companies. It operates the data center 24 hours a day and a week (7 days) using carbon-free energy.

There is still a long way to go.

I think Korea is still a long way off to become a true developed country. It is strange for a country to burden only companies, and it is also strange that companies are using it as an excuse.

In the end, wouldn't this 'late' accumulate and lead to loss of competitiveness or a decline in brand value?