Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SK Innovation E&S to supply renewable electricity to its life science manufacturing sites in Daejeon and Songdo, South Korea. The agreement adds 16 megawatts (MW) of new renewable capacity and represents the company’s longest energy commitment in the Asia-Pacific region. It also supports Merck’s global sustainability targets to source 80 percent of purchased electricity from renewable sources and reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50 percent by 2030.
According to the company, the PPA will provide approximately 21,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually—enough to meet about 75 percent of the life science business’s power demand in South Korea when it becomes operational in late 2027. The renewable energy commitment builds on a growing portfolio of virtual PPAs in Europe and North America, as well as on-site solar and wind projects worldwide.
Advancing manufacturing sustainability
“This agreement reflects our long-term commitment to manufacturing sustainability in Korea,” said Tim Jaeger, chief strategy and transformation officer for the life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “By adding renewable electricity to the grid for our operations in South Korea, we are taking further measures to reduce our environmental impact and enabling our customers [to] do the same.”
Merck’s sustainability roadmap emphasizes the link between operational efficiency and innovation. By decarbonizing its manufacturing and testing facilities, the company aims to lower product life-cycle emissions, strengthen supply chain resilience, and accelerate customer access to sustainable laboratory materials and biomanufacturing services.
The company’s long-term climate targets extend beyond electricity sourcing. Merck aims to achieve climate-neutral operations by 2040 through a combination of renewable energy expansion, energy-efficiency projects, and process optimization across its 55 manufacturing and testing sites worldwide.
What this means for laboratory leaders
For laboratory managers, the agreement highlights the growing influence of supplier sustainability in procurement and compliance decisions. Many academic, industrial, and clinical labs now evaluate vendors based not only on product performance and price but also on environmental impact and transparency.
As labs pursue green certifications, carbon-reduction reporting, and responsible sourcing initiatives, partnerships with manufacturers committed to renewable energy—such as Merck’s life science division—can help meet institutional sustainability goals. The company’s investment also illustrates a wider industry trend toward integrating energy strategy with research and production planning, ensuring that sustainability becomes part of daily laboratory operations rather than a separate initiative.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.
