Korean steelmaker SeAH Besteel plans to buy RECs from Equis

Korean steelmaker SeAH Besteel Holdings Co Ltd (KRX:001430) intends to buy Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) associated with a 21-MW solar farm that is being developed by Equis Development Pte Ltd in South Jeolla Province.

The Asia-Pacific renewables developer said on Wednesday that the two parties have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the intention of executing a REC offtake agreement in the first half of 2023. The yet-to-be-signed contract will be tied to the Jara 3 solar power plant in Sinan Municipality, which Equis expects to complete in late 2023.

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“This MOU represents Equis' first step into the burgeoning Korean corporate offtake market. We're seeing tremendous demand across the private sector for the supply of renewable energy and we expect a large portion of our 400 MW of immediate development capacity to be contracted with corporate customers over the next 12 months,” commented Sung Woo Yang, managing director of Equis.

The previous two solar farms built as part of the Jara portfolio, namely Jara 1 and Jara 2, have offtake deals in place with Korea East-West Power Co Ltd (KEWP) and Korea Southern Power Co Ltd (KOSPO), respectively.

The steelmaker’s move to partner with Equis comes after in 2021 the Korean government allowed renewable power producers to contract directly with corporate users in the context of the global RE100 initiative.