Spies Packaging has invested in a solar park at its Gesmold site. The company intends to use the electricity generated for its own energy supply and feed the surplus electricity into the public grid.
With the investment and the construction of the ten-megawatt Gesmold solar park, which has already begun and is being realised by JUWI, a company specialising in renewable energies, the company is setting new standards in the field of solar energy. Spies is signalling its commitment to sustainability and investing in security of supply at the same time. Construction work on the solar park, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the Spies plant site, began in mid-March and marks the start of a project that is being recognised as a Beacon for climate-friendly energy supply in the industrial sector applies.
After successful commissioning, which is planned for this year, the company will draw the electricity generated from the solar park via a direct line and thus cover more than 20 per cent of its total electricity needs can. This leads to a significant reduction in the ecological footprint and therefore has a positive impact on the company's sustainability balance. The direct supply of solar power underlines Spies' ambitions, combine economic and ecological goals, at the same time stabilising energy costs and thus ensuring security of supply and location.
With well over 18,000 modules, the solar park produces around 10 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year on an area of around 10 hectares, 70-80 per cent of which is intended for Spies' own use. The additional electricity produced is fed into the public grid and can be used as green electricity for the region. The company has set itself the goal of, to produce climate-neutrally (according to Scope 1 and 2) at the Gesmold site. In order to achieve this, the company is also investing in a variety of different energy efficiency measures, such as a Continuous modernisation of ventilation, lighting and compressed air systems and the continuous renewal and optimisation of the production lines. Combined in an established energy management system, all these measures are monitored, controlled and optimised by a team of experts at Spies.
The Gesmold solar park is also set to become a flagship project in terms of species conservation. After commissioning, the park will transformed into extensive grassland with local seeds, in which flora and fauna can develop well. Flower strips on the site and wild hedges around the site will provide additional habitats for animals. A flowerbed is to be created for the breeding pairs of lapwings sighted on the site. This is a large depression in the terrain that is temporarily filled with water, especially in spring, and serves as a feeding habitat for the lapwing. In addition, a meadow orchard covering an area of around one hectare will be created as a compensatory measure.
Source: Spies Packaging
