Coway expands solar capacity at Gongju factory, targeting 320-ton greenhouse gas cut

Coway has completed a new solar power facility at its Yugu factory in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, turning idle space on its premises into a renewable energy production hub to cut greenhouse gas emissions and advance carbon neutrality.

The company said Tuesday it has added a 532-kilowatt-peak solar installation — designated "Solar Power Plant 003" — to the outdoor parking lot at the Yugu factory and begun full operation.

The facility was built by mounting shade-structure frames above the parking lot. Solar panels generate clean electricity while shielding vehicles from sunlight and rain. The company also expects the installation to ease the urban heat island effect in the parking area during summer and improve convenience for employees.

Coway will operate the new facility for self-consumption, with all generated electricity used to power the Yugu factory. Annual renewable energy output is estimated at about 680 megawatt-hours, with greenhouse gas reductions projected at roughly 320 metric tons per year — equivalent, the company says, to planting approximately 50,000 pine trees.

The expansion will also lift solar output across all of Coway's sites. Total annual solar generation is expected to rise about 29 percent, from 2,310 MWh as of 2025 to 2,990 MWh from 2027 onward.

Coway has been expanding its green energy infrastructure by making use of idle space at its facilities. Self-consumption solar installations currently operate on the rooftops of major sites including the Yugu factory, the office building of the Yugu logistics center, the Incheon factory and the Pocheon factory. Commercial solar generation equipment is also in operation at the Yugu logistics center and subsidiary Virex Tech.

Electricity generated at the Yugu logistics center and Virex Tech is sold in its entirety to Korea Electric Power Corp. Coway converts the renewable energy certificates earned through those sales into verified renewable energy usage credits, which are then applied toward its greenhouse gas reduction record.

The new Yugu factory installation is part of an environmental management roadmap approved by Coway's ESG Committee in 2025. The company aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions at its facilities by 50 percent by 2033 from the roughly 18,000 metric tons recorded in 2023, and to achieve net-zero — a 100 percent reduction — by 2050.

"The expansion of the solar power plant at the Yugu factory is the result of our ESG commitment to converting idle space on our premises into clean energy sources to address climate change," a Coway official said. "We will continue to strengthen renewable energy adoption and greenhouse gas reduction efforts in pursuit of our 2050 net-zero goal."