MOSCOW (MRC) -- On the way to becoming a climate-positive company, Henkel has signed a large-scale virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) relating to a new wind farm in Bee County, Texas, said the company.
The agreed capacity equals 100 percent of the electricity demand of Henkel’s operations in the US, which comprise more than 30 production sites across the country. The long-term commitment contributes to increasing the share of renewable energy in the grid and supports Henkel to reach its climate protection targets, which were approved by the “Science Based Targets initiative” earlier this year.
In order to reach its goal to source 100 percent renewable electricity for its production sites by 2030, Henkel follows a combination of on-site production of green energy, direct purchase, and virtual coverage. This involves, for example, entering into long-term VPPAs that feed power from specific renewable energy plants into the supply grid – in an amount that is equal to the amount consumed. Thus, Henkel contributes to creating additional renewable energy generation capacity by way of its green power purchase.
"At Henkel, we want to make a positive contribution to climate protection and further accelerate our efforts. Based on our strong achievements, we have reaffirmed our commitment to become climate-positive by 2040. The power purchase agreement demonstrates how we can drive tangible progress towards achieving our ambitious targets,” explained Sylvie Nicol, Member of the Henkel Management Board responsible for Human Resources and Sustainability.
"We are proud of having entered into a large-scale VPPA in the US market, which marks a true milestone and significantly strengthens Henkel's contribution to climate protection. Thanks to the excellent collaboration of our Purchasing and Finance teams we demonstrated our ability of taking innovative approaches to sourcing sustainable energy. For us, this is both an achievement and a motivation to evaluate further potential of such concepts as contribution to our sustainability agenda,” said Marco Swoboda, Chief Financial Officer at Henkel.
Henkel’s VPPA in the US is connected to a new wind power project, which is being developed by energy provider Orsted. "In addition to generating clean energy, the wind farm will provide a significant source of new revenue for the local government, schools, and landowners," said Philip Moore, Senior Vice President at Orsted.
With an overall production of around 600,000 MWh per year, the wind farm is scheduled to be connected to the grid in early 2022. Henkel’s agreement comprises half of the wind farm’s electricity capacity at fixed terms over a period of more than 10 years. Henkel was advised on the VPPA by Schneider Electric Energy & Sustainability Services.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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