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Samsung SDI beats rivals in W1tr government ESS bid
Samsung SDI has secured the lion's share of the 1 trillion won ($725 million) worth of South Korean energy storage systems up for government bidding, leveraging its technological prowess in the advanced battery cells.
According to media reports Monday, Samsung SDI won bids for six out of Korea's eight ESS projects, outpacing its domestic rivals — LG Energy Solution and SK On.
This was the first round of ESS construction project bids overseen by the government, and covered a total of 3,240 MWh of energy storage in eight regions, including South and North Jeolla Province, North Gyeongsang Province, Gangwon Province and Jeju Island, by the end of 2026.
Samsung SDI's dominance in the bidding, accounting for 2,790 MWh of the total storage, was driven by its strengths in 'non-price criteria,' which made up 40 percent of the evaluation. These criteria assessed technological capability and contributions to the domestic industry — areas where Samsung SDI stood out.
Among other things, the company produces most of its ESS battery cells at its Ulsan plant, backed by a robust local supply chain, and showcased its latest thermal safety technology as part of the bid.
Samsung SDI was reported to have highlighted its thermal propagation prevention solutions by integrating 'enhanced direct injection' technology — its third-generation ESS safety advancement — into the Samsung Battery Box ESS product. This method swiftly reduces the temperature at the heat source in the battery cell after spraying a fire extinguishing agent through pipes connected to the ESS battery module.
This innovation prevents heat spread to neighboring battery cells in the ESS device more effectively than the company's previous solutions, which used either a fire-suppressing sheet or directly injected a fire extinguishing agent into the cells.
Samsung SDI's SBB has also received global safety certifications, including recognition from UL, a US-based safety certification organization.
Industry watchers say Samsung SDI's win in the domestic ESS project is notable as it was accomplished using its high-capacity nickel cobalt aluminum batteries, as opposed to the increasingly popular lithium iron phosphate batteries introduced by its rivals. LFP battery cells are cheaper and are generally considered to be more stable than NCA cells.
LG Energy Solution, a pioneer of the ESS LFP battery sector, started mass production of LFP cells in its Michigan plant last month, while forging a 1,000 MWh supply deal from Poland's state-run power company. SK On has completed prototype development earlier this year.
However, LG Energy Solution — which previously won 200 billion won and 830 billion won ESS projects for Jeju Island and the Korea Electric Power Corp. — secured two projects in this bid, for Pyoseon in Jeju and Gwangyang in South Jeolla Province. SK On did not secure any contracts in this bid.
The results of the first ESS bids will be finalized if no objections are raised by Thursday. A second round of competitive bidding for new contracts is scheduled for the latter half of the year, with further details to be announced by the Korea Power Exchange.
