The South Korean owner of the EU’s largest electric vehicle battery plant has called on the bloc to cut energy costs and develop strategic industries amid fierce competition from China.
LG Energy Solution’s plant near Wroclaw, Poland, has been operating at only about half capacity this year as weak global demand for electric vehicles has hit European automakers hard.
LG Energy said the European Union is working on stricter rules to reduce carbon emissions, while Chinese EV battery and electric vehicle makers are expanding their operations on the continent. Therefore, the EU (and in this case the Polish government) should prioritize the supply of cheap electricity to key growth sectors such as EV battery production.
”If Poland wants to develop advanced industry, it needs to connect cheap electricity to production sites,” said Yong Girl Lee, head of external relations at LG Energy Solutions, in Biskupice Podgórny. “It is impossible to provide everyone with cheap electricity. It is simply impossible.”
Poland prefers to protect households rather than industry from high electricity and gas prices. The country has some of the highest electricity prices in the European Union because it burns coal, which produces costly carbon emissions.
LG Energy Solutions is currently adapting to the weak EV market. The company plans to start producing cheaper lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage from 2025 and for use in cars from 2026. Lee said the plant’s utilization rate will likely increase from the second half of next year, with car batteries still making up the bulk of its output.
LG Energy’s power plants accounted for 3% of Poland’s exports in 2023, consuming around 1 terawatt-hour of electricity per year through direct agreements with renewable energy producers and electricity purchases on the market.
He wants the Polish government to give companies operating in the country’s 14 special economic zones priority access to cheap and clean energy, especially as electricity consumption rises due to increased automation and data storage.
Without this, EU companies will find it difficult to compete with Chinese companies. The urgency of the situation is heightened by the fact that the European Union is drawing up new rules for batteries that are expected to impose stricter carbon emissions requirements on manufacturers.
“Chinese manufacturers are very competitive, so we – Europe – need to act quickly,” Li said. “The Polish government needs to think about how to protect such an important and strategic industry.” Bloomberg
MDDI(P) 046/10/2024. Published by SPH Media Limited, company registration number 202120748H. Copyright © 2025 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.
Post time: Feb-10-2025