COSMAX to Cut Carbon Emissions by 50%... Signs Direct Solar PPA with Hanwha Solutions

Securing 10.4 GWh of Renewable Energy Annually
Accelerating the Journey Toward Carbon Neutrality by 2050

COSMAX has signed a direct power purchase agreement (PPA) for solar energy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Including this latest PPA, the company plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% compared to 2024 levels by 2035 through a total of 32 reduction initiatives.

On the previous day, COSMAX announced on May 19 that it had signed a direct solar PPA contract with Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS. A direct PPA allows electricity users to purchase renewable energy directly from producers, providing a stable sourcing foundation for carbon neutrality and the realization of RE100 through long-term contracts.

Following final approval from the ESG Committee, COSMAX will begin receiving approximately 10.4GWh of renewable energy annually starting in July for its major domestic production bases. The direct PPA contract covers four key domestic production facilities, including the Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek plants.

At the PPA signing ceremony held on the 18th at Cosmax's Pangyo headquarters in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Kyung Choi, CEO of Cosmax (left), and Jaeyeol Yoo, Head of Korea Business Division at Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS, are taking a commemorative photo. Cosmax

Through this agreement, COSMAX will be able to supply about 40% of the total electricity used at its domestic plants with renewable energy. This means a significant portion of COSMAX's K-beauty products supplied worldwide will now be produced using renewable energy-based electricity.

This contract is more than just a change in electricity sourcing; it marks a turning point in transitioning COSMAX’s domestic production competitiveness to a more sustainable framework. In particular, as the electricity consumption structure shifts toward renewable energy, the company's ability to meet global customer demands for supply chain carbon management and ESG standards is expected to be further strengthened.

COSMAX is pursuing a dual-track renewable energy expansion strategy, not only sourcing through external PPAs but also expanding its own power generation facilities. Recently, the company has been expanding rooftop solar installations with a capacity of 499.2kW at Pyeongtaek Plant 1, Building 6, leveraging the building’s extension project. With the goal of beginning generation in the fourth quarter of this year, COSMAX plans to produce an additional 638MWh of renewable energy annually. In this way, the company is continuously strengthening its in-house renewable energy generation capacity at each production base.

Currently, COSMAX has established and operates solar self-generation facilities at 12 sites worldwide, including six in Korea and six overseas. The company plans to further expand the use of renewable energy and enhance management systems across all its global production bases in the future.

COSMAX is also building a product life cycle assessment (LCA) system. LCA is a framework that quantifies resource and energy usage and emissions throughout all stages of a product’s life—from raw material sourcing and production to distribution, use, and disposal—to assess environmental impact. It is a core management infrastructure supporting compliance with global regulations and the achievement of carbon neutrality objectives.

Last year, COSMAX completed the process for calculating the product carbon footprint (PCF), and this year, it plans to finalize the establishment of a comprehensive LCA system covering the entire product life cycle. Through these efforts, the company aims to strengthen both its renewable energy transition and product-level environmental impact management capabilities, thereby further advancing its climate change response system to meet global market requirements.

A COSMAX official stated, "The direct solar PPA contract is significant because it represents not just a declaration of climate change response, but also a transformation of our supply chain management system to a global standard," adding, "We will continue to expand renewable energy, innovate energy efficiency, enhance product environmental impact management systems, and strengthen supply chain response capabilities to establish ourselves as the most trusted partner in the global market."

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