LG Electronics announced an investment project on Wednesday to give boost to the firm’s solar energy business.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gumi City government on the same day to beef up its solar panel module production lines in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.


The tech giant will make investments worth 527 billion won ($435 million) to add six additional production lines to the existing eight lines, for high-efficiency photovoltaic panel modules in the city by 2018.

With the additional lines, the company plans to ratchet up the production capacity, standing at the current 1GW per year, to 3GW by 2020. The 3GW capacity can power 1 million households for a year.

The company expects the new investment to contribute to creating 870 jobs in a range of segments, such as research and development and production.

“The investment plan will be a springboard to help the company to take a next big leap in the PV sector,” said Lee Sang-bong, head of LG’s energy business center, vowing to roll out premium PV products to take the lead in the global market.

Since jumping into the PV business in 1995, LG first rolled out solar panel modules in 2010. It also has made efforts to increase its foothold in global markets such as the U.S., Japan, Europe and Australia.

The electronics firm released the NeON 2 solar panel module, the industry’s most energy efficient product, last November.

In order to spur the growth of the company’s energy businesses, LG has combined three business divisions for energy storage system, lighting, and energy management solution to create the energy business center.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)