Public Procurement Service, Korea Energy Agency join forces to shift public market toward renewable energy

The Public Procurement Service and the Korea Energy Agency are joining forces to accelerate the shift toward renewable energy in the public procurement market.

The two agencies signed an MOU Tuesday at the Korea Energy Agency's Seoul regional headquarters, pledging to support the renewable energy transition of procurement companies and expand green public procurement.

The agreement aims to leverage the purchasing power of the public procurement market — valued at 238 trillion won ($162 billion) annually — to promote renewable energy adoption among domestic companies and speed up the country's carbon neutrality goals. Under the deal, companies and institutions that actively use renewable energy will receive preferential treatment when participating in public procurement.

The two agencies will build a data-sharing system and, starting in August, revamp the Narajangteo shopping mall platform to display K-RE100 badges for companies that recorded renewable energy use last year, making it easier for procuring agencies to identify products from renewable energy users.

Starting next year, companies that show a significant year-on-year increase in renewable energy use will be exempt from the minimum green standards required to enter the procurement market. The two agencies also plan to continue developing policies that strategically use the procurement market to drive the renewable energy transition.

Choe Jae-gwan, president of the Korea Energy Agency, said the agency would do its utmost to ensure the K-RE100 regime takes hold successfully in the public procurement market by providing reliable data backed by its renewable energy verification capabilities.

Kang Seong-min, deputy commissioner of the Public Procurement Service, said the green transition of public procurement is a defining challenge of the era, adding that the MOU would strengthen support for companies' voluntary shift to renewable energy and eco-friendly management so they can grow into key players in a carbon-neutral economy.