Contacter l'Afep

Installation of solar panels in Arevalo

Plastic Omnium launches a pilot project to reduce the carbon footprint of its Arevalo plant in Spain by installing photovoltaic panels on its roofs.

Main project's drivers for reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

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Energy and resource efficiency

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Energy Decarbonisation

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Energy efficiency improvements

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Improving efficiency in non-energy resources

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Emission removal

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Financing low-carbon issuers or disinvestment from carbon assets

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Reduction of other greenhouse gases emission

Project objectives

To contribute to Plastic Omnium's goal of reducing its scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 20% in 2025 compared with 2018, the Company is turning to solar energy production.

Through a pilot project in Arevalo, Plastic Omnium aims to reduce its environmental impact by installing more than 6,000 m² of photovoltaic panels on the roofs of its plant, for a total of 3,000 panels installed and 1.2 MW of nominal installed power.

Detailed project description

Through the Arevalo pilot project, Plastic Omnium aims to demonstrate the initiative’s added value for the Division and the Company:

  • An annual reduction of 400 metric tons in the site’s CO2 emissions
  • Annual local electricity production of 1,600 MWh (approximately 8% of the site’s annual electricity needs)
  • Energy independence in the event of a power cut or breakdown
  • Limit the site’s exposure to the high volatility of the electricity market

Emission scope(s)

on which the project has a significant impact

Scope 1

Direct emissions generated by the company's activity.

Scope 2

Indirect emissions associated with the company's electricity and heat consumption.

Scope 3

Emissions induced (upstream or downstream) by the company's activities, products and/or services in its value chain.

Emission Removal

Carbon sinks creation, (BECCS, CCU/S, …)

Avoided Emissions

Emissions avoided by the activities, products and/or services in charge of the project, or by the financing of emission reduction projects.

Scope 3 – Replacement of electricity drawn from the local grid with electricity generated by the installed solar panels

  • Production estimated at 1830 MWh/year (theoretical data from EDF), i.e. a 9% reduction in CO2 emissions from the site
    • According to the consumption capacity between August and December 2020, the project would allow a reduction of 8.2% of the site’s CO2 emissions
    • According to the real self- consumption between August and December 2020, the project would allow a 6% reduction of the CO2 emissions of the site.

      The company will confirm in August 2021 whether its theoretical estimate of an 8% reduction in CO2 emissions from the site (400 tCO2eq/year) is correct.

The project was finalised in July 2019 (so these are estimates).

Annual production of 1,600 MWh of electricity (or 8% of the site’s electricity consumption).

The carbon intensity of the Spanish grid electricity is considered to be around 0.288 kgCO2eq/kWh, and the carbon footprint of the manufacturing, installation and end-of-life reprocessing of the solar panels is 0.055 kgCO2eq/kWh (for a lifetime of 20 years and a load factor of around 15% in Spain according to the BP stats review 2020).

This represents an annual reduction of 400 tCO2eq for the site (i.e. a reduction of about 8% of CO2 emissions from the site’s electricity consumption)

CO2 Gain =160 MWh ×(0.288 tCO2/MWh  − 0.055 tCO2/MWh) ≈ 400tCO2eq/year

Key points

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Invested amount

PPA partnership (long-term electricity delivery contract between two parties) No investment by Plastic Omnium, €1.2m by EDF

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Starting date of the project

January 2019

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Project localisation

Arevalo, Spain

Project maturity level

Prototype laboratory test (TRL 7)

Real life testing (TRL 7-8)

Pre-commercial prototype (TRL 9)

Small-scale implementation

Medium to large scale implementation

Economic profitability of the project (ROI)

Short term (0-3 years)

Middle term (4-10 years)

Long term (> 10 years)

Illustrations of the project

This project contributes to the following environmental benefits:

  • Reduced national generation needs and lower overall demand (all else being equal)
  • Freeing up transmission networks to help meet national demand

The project can be replicated in all countries depending on the following conditions: energy costs, degree of sunshine, local subsidies and taxation and technical feasibility.

The economic balance necessary for the profitability of the project must be respected.

  • Subcontracting of the installation and operation of the structure
  • Partnership with EDF for the implementation of the production project and submission of the file to the government agencies.
  • Partnership under study with Total and EDF for the other Spanish sites.
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Download the complete project sheet

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Project URL links

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Contact the company carrying the project :

bduclos@plasticomnium.com

Plastic Omnium’s other projects :

All projects

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