A door was installed on the open-refrigerated section of Lotte Mart’s outlet in southern Seoul on Feb. 13, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The government is encouraging retailers to install doors on open refrigerated display cases at their food corners as a means to promote energy conservation.
Second Vice Industry Minister Kang Kyung-sung visited a Lotte Mart’s outlet in Seoul on Wednesday and urged the retail industry to actively participate in the campaign while thoroughly evaluating the impact on consumer accessibility and revenues.
Lotte Mart, a discount store chain, launched an initiative to install doors on open refrigerated display cases in March 2021, resulting in an average power reduction of 52 percent, increasing to 63 percent during the summer.
BGF Retail, the operator of CU convenience stores, plans to install additional doors after receiving test results from some stores indicating power consumption reductions of up to 64 percent.
The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) estimated that if approximately 110,000 stores nationwide were to install doors on approximately 500,000 open refrigerated display cases, energy consumption could be reduced by about 2,270 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually.
To incentivize the retail industry, including small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed individuals, KEPCO plans to provide financial support of 5.9 billion won (US$4.47 million) this year for the installation of doors on open refrigerated display cases.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
