Green Premium Auctioned 4.67 TWh in First Half of This Year... 3.8 Times Higher Than Previous Year

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 27th that 77 companies and institutions participated in the green premium bidding in the first half of this year, winning a total of 4.67 TWh (terawatt-hours) of renewable energy.

The green premium is a method where companies and institutions purchase renewable energy by bidding and paying a premium to Korea Electric Power Corporation. It was introduced in January last year as one of the means to fulfill the voluntary campaign 'RE100,' which aims to procure 100% of the electricity used from renewable energy.

The average bid price for this green premium was 10.9 KRW (per kWh). Compared to the first half of last year, the number of participating companies (35 companies) increased by 2.2 times, and the winning volume increased by about 3.8 times. The 77 winning companies and institutions include global RE100 member companies, 28 large corporations, 33 small and medium-sized enterprises, and 16 public institutions. Among the winners, 88% were large corporations and 12% were small and medium-sized enterprises.

Ten companies purchased more than 20% of their annual electricity usage, two companies purchased more than 50%, and among them, one company purchased nearly 100% renewable energy. By industry, manufacturing accounted for 44 companies (57%), apparel, distribution, and service industries accounted for 16 companies (21%). The remaining 17 were public institutions and local governments.

Winning companies must pay the green premium monthly or quarterly in addition to their existing electricity bills. The funds collected from the green premium will be used to support renewable energy usage, such as equipment distribution and consulting for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects that this bidding result, which exceeds last year's total RE100 implementation performance (renewable energy purchase volume of 1.45 TWh), will accelerate corporate participation this year. A ministry official stated, “While encouraging the use of other RE100 implementation methods besides the green premium, we plan to actively review incentive provision plans for RE100 companies in consultation with related ministries.”

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