Today, there are over 20,000 employees in the Samsung family across 46 states, with six major subsidiaries based in California, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas.
The business lines of each of our staff facilities may also be completely different from each other, with varying requirements for each building. For instance, managing our offices at our Samsung Electronics America headquarters in New Jersey looks very different from managing our Samsung Semiconductor facility in Texas, or our Samsung Home Appliance Manufacturing Plant in South Carolina.
Regardless of the breadth and scope of our U.S. subsidiaries, they all have one thing in common:
Since our 2018 commitment to switch all of our energy to renewables, our U.S. subsidiaries not only established wind power as an energy source, but together also installed solar power capacity, recovered biomass, and purchased Green-e® certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
For example, in 2019 our Samsung Austin Semiconductor manufacturing facility established 75 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy produced by a new large-scale wind farm. Our Samsung Semiconductor U.S. headquarters in San Jose additionally generates electricity from an on-site rooftop solar array. In 2020, 692,569 kilowatts (kWh) of energy were supplied by those solar panels.
Our goal is to claim 100% renewable power through new localized generation sources by early 2024.
Our Samsung U.S. subsidiaries also purchase Green-e® certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Green-e® certified renewable energy meets the highest standards in North America: it must be generated from new facilities that meet rigorous standards for environmental quality, marketed with complete transparency and accuracy, and delivered to a single purchaser, who has sole title. To explain why this is necessary in simple terms – energy doesn’t know where it came from once it was delivered to a larger shared power grid, so Green-e® certified RECs are an important and credible way to bring about more renewable energy by ensuring that the amount of energy used by a company has also been purchased from a certified, renewable source, and not double-counted. Naturally, the goal is that eventually the energy market becomes 100% renewable itself, so that RECs are rendered unnecessary.
Samsung Electronics is an excellent example for other organizations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through green power investment and use.
“Samsung Austin Semiconductor has been investing in Green energy since 2000*. Initially, we purchased Green-e certified RECs from local renewable sources to accomplish our 100% renewable goal. However, our true mission is to work with developers to add new, large-scale renewable generation sources to the Texas ERCOT grid to offset our load completely. Our goal is to claim 100% renewable power through new localized generation sources by early 2024,” says Jason Maas, Facilities Electrical Director at Samsung Austin Semiconductor.
Samsung has had a unique, long-standing partnership with the EPA. Here are some of our joint initiatives:
“EPA applauds Samsung Electronics for its leadership position in the green power marketplace,” said James Critchfield, Program Manager of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership. “Samsung Electronics is an excellent example for other organizations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through green power investment and use.”
This shift to renewables across all of our business lines is exciting and means that we can support our customers’ net-zero goals and their desire to purchase products that are produced sustainably.
Samsung is also part of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), established by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The World Resources Institute (RMI), and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). The Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance is a membership association for large-scale energy buyers seeking to procure renewable energy across the US. Their membership includes over 200 stakeholders from across the commercial and industrial sectors, non-profit organizations, and energy providers.
We’re proud that we’ve achieved 100% renewable energy use in all of our U.S. facilities, but there are always ways that we can grow.
“We will continue to diversify our investments here in the United States, prioritize the generation of additional renewable power grid capacity, and support other Samsung subsidiaries around the globe in their renewable energy strategies,” says Mark Newton, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Samsung Electronics America. “This shift to renewables across all of our business lines is exciting and means that we can support our customers’ net-zero goals and their desire to purchase products that are produced sustainably.”
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