Climate transition: Powering our industrial plants with low-carbon and renewable electricity (3/4)
Are you ready to explore how low-carbon and renewable electricity can drive our journey to be compatible with the 1.5°C trajectory? As one of our five key decarbonization levers, it has the potential to reduce half of the emissions we need to achieve our -42% reduction target.
Let's dive into renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and the low impact electricity installations and projects we are deploying across the Group.
Renewable energy consumption on the rise in 2023
Did you know that a large portion of our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions generated due to our operations comes from the intensive use of electricity? In 2023, the share of renewable energy, including electricity and biomass, increased from 4.1% to 4.5% compared to 2022 in our total energy consumption. We target that by 2030, at least 80%* of our electricity will come from renewable and low-carbon energy sources. How do we plan to achieve this? Mostly by implementing long-term Renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
* from 2% in 2021 (baseline year)
Power Purchase Agreements to support Imerys' energy transition
Back in 2012, we had built our first solar panel installation on Imerys land in Cornwall, UK. Closely followed by a number of wind turbines being constructed across our land portfolio. We then established our first PPA for ground mounted solar to supply power to our Par Moor Centre offices and a large scale solar facility commencing supply to our production sites in Cornwall.
These PPAs contracts with energy producers allow us as consumers to buy renewable electricity at fixed prices over the long term. These agreements can be on-site, where the energy is produced locally on our production sites or off-site. This offers us greater visibility and price stability, making us more resilient to changes in the energy markets and less dependent on fossil fuels. The use of low-carbon electricity is a major lever to reduce the impact of our industrial activity on climate change.
PPAs enable us to actively support the development and construction of renewable assets in the countries where we operate. Finally, this type of contract allows us to take part in the development of renewable energies and thus reconcile economic and environmental performance.
Solar energy projects shining across our worldwide sites
Solar energy projects have been expanding over the last few years, both for businesses and households. Let’s take a look at three exciting solar energy projects across our global sites.
Learning from these projects, in early 2023 we launched a corporate PPA programme with the ambition to scale up the signature and implementation of on-site and off-site PPAs around the world. It is key to pursue and accelerate our transition to low-carbon and renewable electricity.
FAQ
Energy transition is the process of moving towards a more sustainable, efficient energy system, generally characterized by the gradual replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources.
Electricity is a form of energy. There are 2 types of energy:
- Raw primary energy: fossil fuels (natural gas, oil, coal), fissile fuels (uranium used to produce nuclear energy) and renewable resources (solar, wind, geothermal, hydraulic, marine, biomass).
- Primary energies are transformed to create secondary energies: electricity, heat, fuels or biofuels.
Electricity is said to be “low-carbon” when it is produced from energy sources with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions over the entire lifecycle, such as renewable (solar, wind, geothermal, hydraulic, marine) as well as nuclear sources. In France, most electricity is produced using nuclear power, making it a low-carbon energy source. However, the situation differs from one country to another. In countries where electricity is mainly generated from fossil fuels, electrifying operations do not necessarily lead to a reduction in GHG emissions (as compared to the combustion of fossil fuels).
Solar energy is renewable but intermittent. In other words, it is not available continuously: it is only produced when the sun shines. Wind and tidal energy are also intermittent. In some cases, it can be useful to store the energy from the solar panels so that it can be used when there is no sunshine.
Discover Imerys first Climate Transition Plan report
Using peanut shells as a source of energy? This is one approach we are implementing through our decarbonization lever: Fuel switching and Biomass use. We have launched a comprehensive program to identify, assess and implement projects to switch from fossil fuels, such as coal and heavy fuel oil, to natural gas (a fossil energy source that releases lower GHG emissions) and to biomass waste.
We’ll take you on a journey to America, Europe, the Middle East and China to discover some of our initiatives!
For this second article on our journey to 1.5°C, you will learn about our energy efficiency and recovery projects, which are expected to represent up to 20% of the Group’s emissions reduction potential by 2030. Join us on an immersion tour across some of our sites to discover some best practices and initiatives.
Over a year ago, we committed to align our activities with the most ambitious climate science scenario: limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Through a series of articles, we will present our Climate Change ambition and strategy, the levers we focus on to get there and the progress we have already made.