High-Efficiency Appliance Rebate Program "Requests Additional 300 Billion Won" from National Assembly, Gains Momentum

Expected depletion of previous 150 billion KRW budget around August
Ministry of Industry: "Increase for manufacturers and partners"
Clothes dryer business included next month
LG Electronics new product launch imminent
Already saved electricity for 11,300 four-person households for one year
"If the National Assembly approves the 3rd supplementary budget, sales and energy savings will increase"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] "Since the policy was implemented on March 23, the response has been positive, and it is expected that the original budget of 150 billion KRW will be fully exhausted by around August."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy requested the National Assembly on the 3rd to increase the budget for the 'High-Efficiency Home Appliance Rebate Program' by 300 billion KRW. In the third supplementary budget proposal totaling 1.1651 trillion KRW, they requested to allocate one-quarter of the budget to support this policy. In the first supplementary budget in March, they requested 300 billion KRW but the National Assembly cut it by 150 billion KRW. Now, they are asking for an additional 300 billion KRW to increase the budget to 450 billion KRW. This indicates their confidence in the success of the policy.

On the 23rd, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that in the past three months, the program achieved 110.2 billion KRW in performance, which is 73% of the 150 billion KRW budget. This program provides a 10% rebate on the amount spent on energy-efficient home appliances. According to the ministry, from March 23 to the 21st of this month, 896,695 rebate applications were submitted through the High-Efficiency online homepage, with a total application amount of 110.2 billion KRW. Based on purchase receipts submitted during rebate applications, the total purchase amount of eligible products was 1.1613 trillion KRW.

The enthusiastic response from companies suggests the program will continue to run smoothly. According to a survey by the Korea Energy Agency of seven major domestic home appliance manufacturers, sales of rebate-eligible home appliances increased approximately 2.3 times compared to the same period last year.

The ministry also stated that sales of small and medium-sized partner companies are estimated to have increased significantly. According to the agency, as of last year, the proportion of partner company parts costs in the average unit shipment price of washing machines, TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners?categories dominated by large corporations?was as high as 60%. Thanks to the program, when large home appliance companies benefit, their partner companies also gain.

Looking at the rebate application status by product category, washing machines accounted for the highest number of applications among the 10 categories (21.2%). Electric rice cookers (17.9%), refrigerators (15.4%), air conditioners (12.3%), and TVs (12.3%) followed. In terms of application amount, refrigerators (24.2%), washing machines (22.7%), kimchi refrigerators (16.4%), and air conditioners (16.3%) dominated.

Clothes dryers will be added to the program. The government plans to include first-grade clothes dryers starting next month. LG Electronics is about to launch a first-grade clothes dryer in the market. While Samsung Electronics, which has been selling first-grade clothes dryers early on, is already benefiting significantly from the system, small and medium-sized home appliance companies such as Winia Daewoo, Winix, and Otek Carrier are also planning to enter the high-efficiency home appliance market. The possibility of early exhaustion of the budget by August, which is the rationale for the Ministry's request for an increase in the third supplementary budget, is not small.

The energy-saving effect is also certain. The Korea Energy Agency estimated that high-efficiency home appliances sold between March 23 and June 21 will result in an annual energy saving of about 42,500 MWh. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used by approximately 11,300 households (based on four persons per household) for one year.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, "If the National Assembly promptly approves the third supplementary budget plan, which triples the current program scale, additional sales increases for related large, medium, and small enterprises and energy savings can be achieved."

For inquiries about rebate-eligible items and products, rebate applications, and other questions, please contact the High-Efficiency homepage or customer center.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.