| Hanwha Q Cells CEO Lee Koo-yung / Courtesy of Hanwha Q Cells |
Hanwha Q Cells CEO Lee Koo-yung was appointed last Friday as the 14th chair of the Korea New & Renewable Energy Association (KNREA), the solar cell manufacturing unit of Hanwha Solutions said Monday.
He will represent the lobby group for the next three years.
"I will do my best for Korea's new and renewable energy suppliers to play their roles, as responses to climate risks and carbon neutrality have become major topics for the international community," Lee said. "Promoting the co-prosperity of members and maintaining close ties with the government, I will make efforts for the new and renewable energy industry to grow into a promising industry for the future."
Founded in 2001 to foster and protect new and renewable energy suppliers, the association has 420 members as of this month. It has lobbied the government to reform regulations, tried to bring innovation to the industry, nurtured renewable energy experts and helped its members expand their presence overseas.
Before Lee's appointment, the KNREA was represented by another top executive from Hanwha Group, Hanwha Impact and Hanwha Energy CEO Kim Hee-cheul, who led Hanwha Q Cells previously.
Lee, who has worked for Hanwha Group since 1990, became CEO of Hanwha Q Cells last September, after having spent two years as CEO of Hanwha Solutions Chemical Division. He also worked for Hanwha SolarOne, which merged with Hanwha Q Cells in 2015.
Hanwha Q Cells, which operates the nation's largest solar cell factories in Jincheon and Eumseong counties in North Chungcheong Province, has maintained the largest shares in the U.S. residential solar sector for nine consecutive quarters and in the commercial solar sector there for four consecutive quarters.