Company News

Huhtamaki signs largest solar power purchase agreement in Europe

Huhtamaki has joined forces with BayWa r.e. to achieve 100 per cent CO2-neutral production by 2030. To this end, plants are to be operated with renewable energy from the company's own solar systems.

By signing the solar power purchase agreement, Huhtamaki is taking another step towards CO2 neutrality. The company has set itself the goal of using 100 per cent renewable electricity and producing carbon-neutral electricity by 2030.

Carbon neutral production and the use of 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 are among Huhtamaki's sustainability goals. The world's leading provider of sustainable packaging solutions has now taken a significant step towards achieving these goals by two 10-year virtual power purchase agreements (VPPA) with the global renewable energy developer BayWa r.e. for its plants in Europe. The contracts are the largest solar power contracts for the packaging industry in Europe and the first for a Finnish company.

Electricity from renewable energies in all companies by 2030

Sustainability is at the centre of the 2030 strategy of Huhtamaki, and today the company is taking a step forward in achieving its goals by signing two 10-year virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) with BayWa r.e., a global renewable energy developer. The 200 GWh agreements cover around 80 per cent of Huhtamaki's current electricity consumption in Europe, where the world's leading provider of sustainable packaging solutions has 18 production sites in 10 countries.

„We are committed to our ambitious 2030 strategy to become the first choice for sustainable packaging solutions. This means that we have a Develop a circular approach for our activities and products. We are firmly committed to supporting the transition to a zero-carbon economy and have a climate strategy with clear targets and action plans to reduce all our emissions. The agreement we have just signed with BayWa r.e. shows that it is possible to make significant progress in a short space of time.“

Display
Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of Huhtamaki

Huhtamaki's VPPAs make more electricity from renewable energies available

„The science-based targets validated and approved by the Science Based Targets initiative in 2021 mean that we need to address our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Today, the majority of our Scope 2 emissions are due to purchased electricity and we can address them efficiently by switching to renewable electricity. The agreement with BayWa r.e. is our first VPPA that is in line with our transition to renewable energy sources globally. We expect to finalise further VPPAs in the near future, the next one in the United States. In addition we install solar panels at our sites where possible and work tirelessly to improve our energy efficiency. The progress Huhtamaki is making in switching to 100 per cent renewable electricity also plays an important role in achieving our goal of climate-neutral production by 2030. However, additional measures are needed to reduce our Scope 1 emissions. These include In addition to improving energy efficiency, the switch to alternative fuels and the electrification of systems."
Thomasine Kamerling, Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications

As part of the VPPAs, BayWa r.e. will build two new solar plants in Spain, making a significant contribution to feeding renewable energy into the European grid. The two new solar plants have a combined volume of 200 GWh of renewable electricity per year - enough power to supply almost 25,000 households - resulting in a annual saving of over 89,000 tonnes of CO2.

„Huhtamaki is taking a leading role in the transition to renewable energy in the packaging industry and I hope this will encourage other companies to do the same. The Support from Huhtamaki on the way to achieving the company's sustainability goals is another step in the right direction. important milestone in BayWa r.e.'s commitment to driving forward the energy transition in companies that are crucial to achieving global climate targets. is so important.“
Matthias TaftCEO of BayWa r.e.

Source: Huhtamaki