This post was originally published on The Economic Times
The South Korean owner of the European Union’s largest factory of electric-vehicle batteries called on the bloc to reduce energy costs and grow the strategic industry amid stiff competition from China.
LG Energy Solution Ltd’s facility near Wroclaw, Poland, has been operating at about half of its capacity this year due to weaker global demand for EVs, which has battered Europe’s automakers.
The EU is preparing stricter carbon footprint regulations at the same time as Chinese producers of EV batteries and electric cars are increasing their presence on the continent, according to LG Energy. Therefore, the bloc — and in this case the Polish government — should prioritize giving access to cheap electricity to key growth industries, such as making EV batteries.
“If Poland wants to build advanced industry it needs to connect cheap electricity where the business is generated,” Yong Girl Lee, head of external relations at LG Energy Solutions, said in Biskupice Podgorne. “You can’t provide cheap power for everyone. It can’t be done.”
Poland tends to favor shielding households, not industries, from high costs of electricity and natural gas. The country has one of the EU’s highest power prices because of its dependence
— Read the rest of this post, which was originally published on The Economic Times.
