SK Materials, a materials technology company, and SK E&S, Korea's leading eco-friendly energy company, have joined forces to achieve carbon neutrality by supplying 50 megawatts (MW) of solar renewable energy over 20 years until 2044.

SK E&S and SK Specialty, a subsidiary of SK Materials, signed a Power Purchase Agreement (hereinafter PPA) on the 29th at the SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu. SK Materials President Lee Yong-wook, SK E&S President Chu Hyung-wook, SK Specialty President Lee Kyu-won, and other key officials attended the event.

A PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) is a contract in which an electricity supplier and a company requiring electricity purchase directly trade power.

Through this contract, SK Specialty is scheduled to receive 50 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy power produced from a solar power plant in the Chungnam region from SK E&S for 20 years, from 2024 to 2044. This is the largest renewable energy PPA in Korea, and SK Specialty expects that through this contract, it will be able to replace approximately 10% of its electricity needs with renewable energy by 2030 and achieve a total greenhouse gas reduction effect of 600,000 tons.

In 2020, SK Materials, along with other SK members such as SK Telecom and SK Hynix, was the first in Korea to declare its membership in RE100. In particular, SK E&S and SK Specialty are expected to accelerate SK Group's overall carbon-neutral management by responding to climate change through renewable energy PPAs, which are considered the most efficient means of implementing RE100.

SK Materials plans to introduce and expand renewable energy PPAs not only to SK Specialty but also to other subsidiaries such as SK Trichem and SK Materials Performance.

In addition, we plan to actively engage in greenhouse gas reduction activities and secure renewable energy by utilizing various methods, such as direct reductions, green premium bidding, the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and the voluntary purchase of carbon credits.

Through this, SK Materials is expected to achieve its goal by 2030, which is faster than the government's 2050 carbon neutrality target.

In particular, three of the subsidiaries—SK Trichem, SK Materials Performance, and SK Materials Renewtech—are expected to accelerate the strengthening of SK Materials’ ESG management by setting goals to achieve carbon neutrality and RE100 early by 2026, while SK Materials JNC aims for the same in 2024.

Meanwhile, SK E&S is the largest private power generation company and is currently operating and developing over 3 GW of domestic and international renewable energy projects, with plans to expand to 7 GW by 2025. Based on this, SK E&S is expected to establish itself as a leading domestic RE100 supplier by expanding direct renewable energy PPAs with domestic companies and local governments seeking to implement RE100.

SK E&S President Choo Hyung-wook said, “Since signing a business agreement with SK Materials last July to implement RE100, the two companies have continuously consulted, leading to the achievement of the largest direct purchase contract for renewable energy in Korea. With the number of domestic and international companies declaring RE100 increasing, SK E&S will strive to provide suitable solutions and contribute to the reduction of national greenhouse gas emissions in the mid-to-long term.”

Lee Yong-wook, President of SK Materials, stated, “This direct renewable energy supply contract with SK E&S, the largest of its kind in Korea, demonstrates the efforts of SK Materials and its subsidiaries to achieve carbon neutrality and RE100.” He added, “Moving forward, we will become a top global materials technology company through active ESG management strategies that seek optimal solutions to address climate change and apply them to the field.”