At the 'InterBattery 2020' battery industry exhibition held last year at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, SK Innovation CEO Ji Dong-seop (second from the left) is visiting and touring the exhibition hall.
[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] SK Innovation has decided to raise 1 trillion won through a Green Bond to build a battery factory in the United States.
Last month, SK Innovation held a board meeting and decided to raise approximately 1.09 trillion won (about 986 million USD) in Green Bonds as investment funds for the construction of the second battery plant in Georgia, USA.
Green Bonds are special purpose bonds designed to be used only for eco-friendly projects such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and environmental pollution prevention.
SK Innovation's US electric vehicle battery subsidiary, SK Battery America (SKBA), will issue the Green Bonds, with SK Innovation providing a debt guarantee. The Green Bonds are expected to be issued within this month.
The funds secured through the Green Bonds will be used for the construction of the second electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia, USA.
The second plant, which began construction last year, has a capacity of 11.7 GWh (gigawatt-hours) and aims for mass production in 2023. The construction cost is estimated at a total of 1.5 billion USD (about 1.8 trillion won).
In April last year, SK Innovation invested 894.4 billion won in the US battery second plant by acquiring shares of SKBA. It is reported that the remaining construction cost of about 1 trillion won will be covered through this Green Bond.
An SK Innovation official said, "Successfully raising green capital means that SK Innovation's battery business has been recognized for its value and growth potential as an eco-friendly future business."
In 2019, SK Innovation was the first domestic company to raise 800 billion won using a Green Loan.
A Green Loan is a loan system restricted to eco-friendly sectors such as electric vehicles or renewable energy, where the project's eco-friendliness can be certified by financial institutions, enabling favorable financing conditions.
The first battery plant in Georgia, USA, with a capacity of 9.8 GWh, which began construction earlier, has recently completed preparations for trial production and is expected to enter commissioning in the first half of this year. The target for mass production at the first plant is the first quarter of next year.
Based on the first and second plants in the US, SK Innovation aims to expand its annual production capacity from the current 19.7 GWh to 100 GWh by 2025 and enter the top three in the global electric vehicle battery market.
According to energy market research firm SNE Research, from January to November last year, SK Innovation's global electric vehicle (EV, PHEV, HEV) battery usage was 6.5 GWh, accounting for 5.5% of the total, ranking fifth.
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