SABIC's polycarbonate facility in Spain is set to become the world's first large scale chemical production plant which will run entirely on renewable power after a major agreement was signed with Iberdrola, an electricity utility company.

 

The plant is expected to be completely operational by 2024 and is expected to help SABIC reach it's 2025 clean energy target.

 

Iberdrola will invest almost €70 million to construct a 100MW solar photovoltaic (PV) facility with 263,000 panels, on land owned by SABIC, making it the largest industrial renewable power plant in Europe. 

 

The 25-year deal represents another milestone in SABIC’s journey to transition all its global operations to cleaner energy. SABIC’s ambition is to have 4GW of either wind or solar energy installed for its sites globally by 2025, rising to 12GW by 2030. In 2019, solar panels were installed at SABIC sites in India and Thailand, helping reduce greenhouse emissions by 200 tons, and SABIC’s Home of Innovation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has been completely solar-powered since 2015.

 

“This ground-breaking deal with Iberdrola is a significant step towards achieving our long-term sustainability and clean energy targets. Partnerships of this kind are the cornerstone of our business growth model," said Bob Maughon, EVP Sustainability, Technology & Innovation and CTO and CSO at SABIC.

 

He said that breakthroughs in renewable energy technology have made deployment at this scale possible, adding the new plant will deliver 80,000 tonne annual reduction in indirect CO2 emissions strengthening the support and contribution to wider climate change initiatives like EU 2030.

 

"These partnerships enhance the competitiveness of renewables and continue to create opportunities for the development of innovative projects that are transforming the present and the future of energy," says Eduardo Insunza, Corporate Customer Global Director of Iberdrola.

 

Once the solar plant is operational, SABIC's customers including the ones from automotive and constructive sectors will have access to polycarbonate solutions produced with 100 per cent renewable power, the company said in a statement.