Personal hygiene firm Ontex has announced plans to develop a major solar energy installation at its production facility in Ortona, Italy, which the company says will be the largest in the country.
The solar installation will produce 11.6 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the yearly consumption of more than 3,500 households, the company said.
Access To Sustainable Electricity
“As demand for sustainably produced electricity is expected to increase, we prefer to have direct access to electricity that is produced on-site in a sustainable way," commented Annick De Poorter, Ontex’s executive vice president for R&D and sustainability. "We can now produce more than a quarter of the electricity we need to manufacture essential hygiene goods at our factory in Italy."
The solar installation is being developed by Menapy, which also installed solar power operations at Ontex facilities in Eeklo, Belgium and Segovia, Spain. Menapy is also financing the project.
Construction Project
Construction is expected to take around six months, to be completed during the first few months of 2022, Ontex said. The company expects to commence the production of personal hygiene products with solar power from the spring of next year.
"This is another step towards our goal to have carbon neutral operations by 2030, DePoorter added. "We will reach this goal through on-site renewable energy production, energy savings, purchasing energy from renewable sources, and carbon offsets via reforestation projects.”
Since 2017, 100% of Ontex’s European factories have run exclusively on electricity from renewable sources, accounting for 75% percent of Ontex’s manufacturing plants worldwide.
Ontex reported a 3% decrease in like-for-like revenue in its most recent financial year. The group also recently announced an expansion of its board of directors.
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