LG Energy Solution 放棄約 2 萬億韓圜的 ESS 招標

An LG Energy Solution grid-scale ESS installation site.

LG Energy Solution will not participate in the third round of South Korea’s energy storage system (ESS) central contract market tender, valued at around 2 trillion won.

LG Energy Solution said on Nov. 5 that it had decided not to participate in the third competitive tender. The company described the move as “a strategic decision to improve operational efficiency and medium- to long-term competitiveness within our limited resources and workforce, rather than securing short-term orders through price competition.”

The government’s third ESS central contract market tender covers a total capacity of 1,180 megawatts (MW), including 1,100 MW on the mainland and 80 MW on Jeju Island. The volume is roughly equivalent to the combined capacity of the first tender (540 MW) and second tender (565 MW). With LG Energy Solution withdrawing, competition in the third round has narrowed to Samsung SDI and SK On.

LG Energy Solution secured 19% of the total awarded capacity in the first two rounds. It won two projects in Jeju and Gwangyang in the first tender and one project in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, in the second. Samsung SDI and SK On accounted for 56% and 25%, respectively.

LG Energy Solution will prioritize projects it has already secured. The company plans to allocate resources to its existing central contract market projects and the government’s AI-Based Distribution Grid ESS Deployment Support Program. It was selected as an operator for the government’s distribution grid ESS deployment support program in July 2026.

Declining profitability in the first two bidding rounds reportedly influenced LG Energy Solution’s decision to skip the third tender. Average bid prices in the central contract market fell from the 30-won range per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the first round to the 20-won range in the second.

LG Energy Solution has left open the possibility of participating in the fourth and subsequent tenders. “We will decide whether to participate in competitive tenders after the third round by comprehensively considering market conditions and our business circumstances,” a company official said.

The Korea Power Exchange will close submissions of final supporting documents, including business plans, for the third tender on Nov. 11 and plans to select preferred bidders later in November 2026. Selected companies must complete ESS installations by February 2029.