Jungbunzlauer starts up Austria’s Largest Photovoltaic Power Station feeding into a private grid
The 56 MWpeak photovoltaic installation is made of more than 84’000 modules built on 40 ha of land and has been designed to generate more than 60 GWh / year of renewable power, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around 16’000 households. Envisioned according to the principle of generating electricity where it is needed, the photovoltaic power station will reduce the dependency of Jungbunzlauer Austria AG on third party sourced energy by feeding the generated electricity directly into the grid of its production site, without losses related to transportation. Compared to the sourcing of Austrian conventional power, it will allow to save around 15’000 mt / year of CO2.
Given the size of the park, equivalent to 56 football fields, 300 sheep will soon graze underneath the modules. Furthermore, wildflower meadows have been created to support biodiversity by attracting pollinating insects and other wildlife.
On top of the 56 MWp solar park, Jungbunzlauer has started up at the same time several smaller photovoltaic installations with a cumulative capacity of 3.6 MWp built as rooftop systems on warehouses and as solar carports covering a parking lot of 400 spaces for employees.
Building on decades of continuously improving the energy efficiency of its production processes, optimising combined heat and power cogeneration, and replacing a share of its natural gas needs by own produced biogas in the largest plant of this kind in Austria, Jungbunzlauer has developed a decarbonisation strategy for both the heat and electricity needs of its citric acid and xanthan gum production processes.
On the heat side, the cmpany has electrified steam-intensive downstream processing steps and installed large heat pumps coupled with a heat storage and hot water loop for process steps allowing the replacement of low-pressure steam by hot water. On the power side, it started already some years ago by purchasing renewable energy certificates, before making first renewable virtual power purchase agreements (vPPAs) and building small scale photovoltaic systems, and now moving to large scale own renewable power production.
Jungbunzlauer’s decarbonisation strategy is not only meant to achieve its scope 1 and 2 SBTi target, it supports the company’s ambition to offer citric acid, citrates and xanthan gumwith the lowest possible carbon footprint to its customers to help them reducing their scope 3 CO2 emissions.
Jungbunzlauer is one of the world's leading producers of biodegradable ingredients of natural origin and enables customers to manufacture healthier, safer, tastier, and more sustainable products. The Swiss-based international company, whose roots date back to 1867, specialises in acidulants, texturants and salts and specialties.
