(from left) Oh Jae-seok, right, executive vice president of the energy systems business division at LSIS, poses for a photo with Paul Horvat, vice president of motion systems group at Parker Hannifin, and Jim Hoelscher, president of LS Energy Solutions, after signing a contract to acquire Parker Hannifin's Energy Grid Tie (EGT) division at the office of LS Energy Solutions in North Carolina. (Photo: LSIS)

LSIS acquired an energy storage system (ESS) unit from U.S.-based Parker Hannifin. The move is intended to help LSIS, sharing Parker Hannifin’s sales network, production and R&D, to strengthen its presence in the global smart energy market in a full-fledged fashion.

LSIS signed a deal to acquire tangible and intangible assets of Parker Hannifin’s Energy Grid Tie (EGT) division, including production facilities and manpower, and inaugurated LS Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of LSIS’s North America operation.

Parker Hannifin’s EGT division launched the ESS business in 2007, and it owns core technologies, including global-level ESS and PCS design, production, buildup and services. Parker Hannifin’s EGT division has established itself as one of the biggest ESS suppliers in North America as it has swiftly entered markets such as Europe, Central and South America, Australia, and Southeast Asia, supplying PCSs that top 400MW in cumulating stats. LS Energy Solution, a grandson company of LSIS is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, the United States.

LSIS officials said the existing world-leading products and technology capabilities, owned by LSIS and Parker Hannifin’s EGT division, will ramp up the capabilities of the smart energy business, including ESS, and they will expedite LSIS’s presence in the global market. The deal will bring LSIS’s cumulating supplies to a combined 700MW, considered to be the most in the global industry ESS market.

With the deal, LSIS will be able to share global sales network not only in Korea, but also the United States, throughout Asia, Central and South America, and Australia, production & R&D facilities, and manpower.

LSIS will be able to aggressively explore global markets, including in North America, by strengthening production of strategic and new products and production capabilities, industry analysts said. LSIS Chairman Koo Ja-kyun said, “With the acquisition, LSIS’s innovative smart energy capabilities, coupled with LS Energy Solutions’ smart base and technology knowhow, have allowed (LSIS) to secure an outpost to make an inroad into the global market.”

ESS is a device that stores electricity for later use. ESS allows new and renewable energies such as wind power and photovoltaic power to stabilize electricity supply.

Electricity can be stored up through ESS at lower demand peak, but it can be retrieved at higher demand peak, reducing electricity charges. Global expansion of new and renewable energies will likely push steep growth of the ESS market.

Chairman Koo said cumulating capacity of ESS units, to be installed by 2030, would stand at about 125GW, a 60-fold jump compared to 2016, and eight countries, including Korea, the United States and China, will account for about 70 percent of total capacity. LSIS aims to rise to a global player that not only occupies the market in advance through preemptive investments but also spearhead global industry trends, he said.

The value of the deal and other details were not disclosed. Parker Hannifin's EGT division began the ESS business in 2007.

The American company rapidly expanded its presence in Europe, Central and South America, Australia and Southeast Asia, becoming the largest ESS provider in North America. LSIS will focus on developing new products and strengthening production capability in order to expand its influence in the global market, using North America as a strategic position.

“Through the takeover integrating innovative smart energy technology of LSIS with customer base and technical knowhow of LS Energy Solutions, we could secure the outpost for the global market invasion.” said Koo. “Our first goal is to make visible results in the North American market.”

An ESS is used to save energy produced at one time for use at a later time for efficient distribution of power. The system is essential in utilizing new regeneration energy whose production and supply can be changeable in accordance with changes in external environment.

The ESS market is rapidly growing. More than $100 billion is expected to be invested in the ESS market from 2016 to 2030, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and the scale of the global market in 2019 is expected to grow 40 percent from 2018.