LG commits $6.8b to ‘Green New Business’ strategies

South Korea’s giant LG Group last week said it would push green energy business forward on a strategy titled “Green New Business” and is willing to bet 10s of billions of dollars over the next three years in doing so.

Under the plan, the country’s second-biggest conglomerate aims to generate 10 trillion won (USD8.5 billion) in revenue from green business by 2015, and become a leader in the electric vehicle parts, photovoltaic, and sewage treatment sectors. LG said it will invest about 8 trillion won (USD6.83 billion) in green projects by 2015.

LG, which posted 1.5 trillion won in revenue from green business last year, expects the revenue to grow to 3 trillion won by the end of 2011 and 10 trillion by 2015, according to a report in the Korea Herald.

LG previously mapped out a masterplan, “Green 2020,” and the latest initiative is part of the broader plan.

The announcement came after it had set the green energy business as its new growth project in the coming years.

LG said its affiliates would partner with as many as 660 small- and medium-size companies to push forward with the plan that would also create 10,000 new jobs by 2015. LG said it has already partnered with 17 firms for joint research.

The company said it will invest a total of 100 billion won to promising business partners for their research and development in the next five years.

LG Chem produced electric batteries that could serve up to 100,000 vehicles last year. By 2013, the supply will rise to power 350,000 vehicles, which is equivalent to a quarter of the total demand in the electric car industry worldwide, the company said.