Solar facility to lower carbon footprint of Bekaert’s Burgos plant

Bekaert considers the installation of a solar park within the grounds of its plant in Burgos, Spain a “significant step in progressing on the company’s sustainability ambition to reach Carbon Net Zero by 2050.” The facility at the Industrias del Ubierna SA (Ubisa) site will produce over 14 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 4,000 households.

“This exciting project will produce more than 15 per cent of the electricity we need at our factory in Spain making it one of the lower carbon footprint Bekaert plants,” says Michael Hamilton, vice-president commodities procurement at Bekaert. “It gives us direct access to clean electricity, reduces our dependence on the grid and will help us manage cost in a time of unprecedented energy price inflation.”

Solar power solutions firm Menapy will develop, finance and operate the installation. The facility should be built by the start of 2023 and begin producing electricity in the spring of that year. Bekaert Ubisa expects to consume 95 per cent of the generated electricity.

Angel Verdu, country manager, Menapy Península SL, adds: “This project marks an important milestone for Menapy in the Spanish market. It crystallises our long-term experience in industrial solar projects in Europe and it confirms that our ‘Solar as a Service’ can bring important added value to high-consuming industries in Spain. Bekaert has clear and ambitious goals in sustainability as well as reducing energy costs and exhaust, and with this project we help them achieve both.”