Battery producer LG Chem said Thursday it has been recognized as the most outstanding energy storage system maker in North America.

The South Korean company received the Brad Roberts Outstanding Industry Achievement Award at a conference held by the Energy Storage Association in Denver, Colorado, in the US.

It is the first time for a Korean business to win the award, which is granted to the single company that has made the greatest contributions to development of the North American ESS industry, the company said.

LG Chem said it beat 70 ESS builders around the world, including leading battery makers, power providers and system integration firms.

The company first entered California in May 2013 by supplying its ESS in a project led by Southern California Edison, the biggest power company in the state. It also supplied 34 megawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries for a monolith substation in Tehachapi, north of Los Angeles.

Recently, LG Chem partnered with SolarEdge, a leading US inverter manufacturer, to launch 9.8-kilowatt-hour energy storage systems for homes.

The LG unit achieved 270 billion won ($239 million) in ESS sales last year. It aims for over 80 percent growth this year.

This year, the company plans to expand into other global markets, according to Jang Sung-hoon, senior vice president of LG Chem. Park Jin-soo, vice chairman and CEO of LG Chem, urged its executives and employees to continue seeking growth by enhancing fundamentals at a corporate meeting to mark the 70th anniversary of the company’s foundation on Wednesday.

LG Chem posted 6.48 trillion won in sales and 796.9 billion won in operating profits in the first quarter of this year. Both figures were the largest quarterly results in six years.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)