SK Innovation Receives 90 Million Euros Support for Construction of Hungary Plant 2

EU Commission Approves Investment Support for SK Innovation Battery Plant in Hungary
SK Innovation Enters Global TOP3 with 1 Terawatt-hour Order Backlog

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Innovation announced on the 18th that it will receive a subsidy of 90 million euros (approximately 120.9 billion KRW) from the Hungarian government for the construction of its battery factory.

SK Innovation is investing about 945 billion KRW to build its second European plant in Komarom, Hungary, with an annual production capacity of approximately 10 gigawatt-hours (GWh). The plant is scheduled to be completed within this year and will begin commercial operations next year. The receipt of this subsidy is in recognition of the economic and employment effects expected from the operation of the second plant.

When an individual country within the EU (European Union) provides large-scale subsidies to a specific company, approval from the EU Commission is mandatory. The EU Commission reviewed the validity of the subsidy that the Hungarian government intended to provide to SK Innovation starting from September last year and approved the payment after 10 months. It is unusual for a domestic company to receive such a large-scale subsidy approval so quickly from the stringent EU Commission.

The EU Commission judged that the support for SK Innovation would contribute significantly to balanced economic development within the European Union and job creation. As a result, SK Innovation’s battery business has been firmly recognized not only as a contributor to the EU’s economic development and consumer welfare enhancement but also as a partner in environmental policies.

The Hungarian provincial government reportedly emphasized to the EU Commission that SK Innovation has secured various customers such as Volkswagen, Daimler, Beijing Automotive Group, Hyundai Motor, and Kia based on its solid technological capabilities. SK Innovation is also leading the market with its advanced ‘High Nickel’ technology, which determines performance in lithium-ion batteries.

At the recent 'Story Day' event where the company announced its future vision and strategy, SK Innovation revealed that its order backlog already corresponds to more than 14 million electric vehicles, totaling 1 terawatt-hour (TWh). This order backlog size ranks among the global top 3.

Ji Dong-seop, head of SK Innovation’s battery business, said, "Through aggressive investment, we will become a global leading company in the electric vehicle battery market," adding, "We will strive to contribute to the growth of the company as well as the development of local communities and the electric vehicle ecosystem."

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