"To Penetrate the North American ESS Market" OCI Collaborates with LG Energy and CPS

OCI Holdings is officially entering the North American Energy Storage System (ESS) market. To respond to the explosive demand for electricity in North America, it is expanding its strategic partnership with LG Energy Solution, CPS Energy, and others.

OCI Holdings announced on the 27th that it signed a three-party Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for ESS business cooperation with its U.S. subsidiary OCI Energy, CPS Energy, and Vertech at the OCI Building in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 26th. This agreement is expected to be the starting signal for mid- to long-term cooperation, beginning with the 'Alamo City ESS LLC' project underway in San Antonio, Texas.

The Alamo project is a combined power plant linking a 480MWh ESS with a 120MW solar facility, aiming for completion by the end of 2026. OCI Holdings signed a long-term power supply contract (SCA) with CPS Energy for about 20 years in December last year and plans to store the electricity produced by receiving batteries for ESS from Vertech and supply it to CPS.

CPS Energy is the largest regional energy company in the United States, supplying electricity and natural gas to about 1.28 million households in Texas. OCI Holdings plans to expand its cooperation with LG Energy Solution and CPS on 13 North American pipeline projects combining ESS and solar power, totaling 3GW, through this agreement.

Cell production expansion is also underway. OCI Holdings is investing $265 million (about 380 billion won) to build a 2GW cell plant in San Antonio, Texas, to respond to North American tariff risks and the surge in electricity demand. It aims to produce 1GW in the first half and 1GW in the second half of next year.

moving@fnnews.com Lee Dong-hyuk Reporter