Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) today announced that five key affiliate companies, including Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor) and Kia Corporation (Kia), will join Climate Group’s RE100, a global initiative committed to moving toward 100 percent renewable energy. Joining 300 other global companies, the Group plans to further accelerate efforts on sustainable development and carbon neutrality.
Hyundai Motor and Kia, along with Hyundai Mobis Co., Hyundai Wia and Hyundai Transys Inc., each will submit applications to the Korea RE100 Committee later this month.
While all five companies aim to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, each will make independent efforts to achieve targets ahead of schedule, by as early as 2040, depending on energy supply and demand conditions at their respective overseas operations.
To this end, the five companies plan to establish a joint RE100 response system at global sites where they commonly operate. The Group is considering various ways to procure renewable energy such as self-production through solar panels, power purchase agreements (PPA) with wind and solar energy producers, as well as purchase through Korea Electric Power Corporation’s (KEPCO) ‘Green Premium’ program.
Besides the aforementioned companies, other Group affiliates agree about the need to transition to 100 percent renewable energy and plan to actively use it at their operations going forward.
Prior to the announcement to join RE100, major affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group were already expanding implementation of renewable energy sources as well as technologies to reduce energy use across production processes.
Hyundai Motor installed roof-type solar power facilities at its Asan automotive plant (South Korea) in 2013 to produce 13,000 MWh per year. The company is also producing 12,500 MWh of electricity through solar power facilities that were installed in its Ulsan plant last year, in cooperation with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company.
In 2019, Kia established a system to replace all power used in its production plant in Zilina, Slovakia with renewable energy. In Korea, Kia’s Gwangmyeong, Hwaseong and Gwangju plants have obtained ISO50001 certifications.
Hyundai Mobis made a full switch to renewable energy sources in its Slovakia and Sweden operations earlier this year. In Korea, Mobis is pushing to reduce energy usage by establishing the Global Mobis Energy Management System (GMEMS).
At a special session of the P4G (Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030) held in May, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung said, “The most important thing to respond to climate change is action. We will contribute to the global circular economy by achieving carbon neutrality in the future.”
RE100, which stands for ‘Renewable Energy 100 Percent’, is a global initiative led by the Climate Group bringing together the world’s most influential businesses committed to 100 percent renewable energy and has been campaigning since 2014. To be a member, a company must have significant power footprint (i.e. 100 GWh annually) and are required to submit mid- to long-term renewable energy power securing plans within a year after joining. Over 300 global companies are participating.
SOURCE: Hyundai
