SKIET secures $300 mn green loan from IFC

SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), a global top lithium-ion battery separator (LiBS) player under South Korea’s energy and battery maker SK Innovation Co., has obtained a substantial $300 million green loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank Group.

This funding will bolster SKIET's pursuit of a comprehensive global production base. The announcement came on Thursday, following the signing ceremony of the green loan agreement at Seoul's Fairmont Hotel in Yeouido on the previous day.

Key attendees of this landmark event included Kim Cheol-jung, President of SKIET and Riccardo Puliti, IFC's Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific.

A green loan, earmarked for environmentally friendly projects, consists of $200 million directly from IFC's own funds, while the remaining $100 million has been raised via partnerships with private banks. With a track record of $32.8 billion in private investments and loans across over 100 countries last year, the IFC stands as the world's largest development finance institution.

SKIET plans to leverage this $300 million loan for the expansion of its LiBS production plant in Silesia, Poland. The company had already established Europe's first LiBS production plant through its Polish subsidiary SKBMP in 2021 and is currently operating the first factory. 

SKIET's plans include expanding the second to fourth factories by 2024, thereby achieving an annual production capacity of 1.54 billion square meters of separators - enough to cater to approximately 2.05 million electric vehicles. This capacity is projected to be the largest in Europe.

SKIET, already operating separator factories in Korea, China, and Poland, is contemplating entry into the North American market, considering legislative parameters such as the American Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). With the IFC's green loan, SKIET is poised to navigate its future North American investments smoothly.

This is the first time an IFC green loan has been awarded to a foreign subsidiary of a domestic manufacturing company, according to SKIET. IFC anticipates that the investment will contribute to the green transition in the transportation sector and the EU’s climate neutrality objectives, the development of a more diversified and resilient EV value chain and the development of Poland’s leadership in electromobility-related manufacturing.

Write to Mi-Sun Kang at misunny@hankyung.com