Samsung Electronics plans solar and geothermal additions under new green pledge

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX:005930) is getting ready to install solar panels and geothermal power plants at certain company sites as it just announced a commitment to source renewables for 100% of its operations in the US, Europe and China by 2020.

The Korean company said in a statement that it expects to be powering all of its factories, office buildings and operational facilities in the US, Europe and China with renewables by the end of the decade. Moreover, it plans to expand this effort around the world in the medium to long-term.

As an initial step, Samsung Electronics intends to install solar panels on an area of 42,000 sq m (452,084 sq ft) at its headquarters in Suwon this year. It will continue with solar and geothermal installations in 2019 for its Pyeongtaek campus and in 2020 for the Hwaseong campus.

The company pointed out that those projects should increase its use of renewable energy globally to match the equivalent amount of energy produced by an average 3.1-GW solar power plant by 2020.

In 2019, Samsung Electronics will begin work with its top 100 partner companies to assist them in setting their own renewable energy targets. The company has now joined the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Renewable Energy Buyers’ Principles and the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center, and said it expects to become part of the Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Program next year.

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