Sabic chemical plant to operate on 100% renewable power
Chemical firm Sabic says its polycarbonate (PC) facility in Cartagena, Spain, is set to become the world’s first large-scale chemical production site to be run entirely on renewable power, following the signing of a major agreement.
The deal will see Iberdrola, one of the world’s biggest electricity utility companies, invest almost EUR70 million to construct a 100MW solar PV facility with 263,000 panels, on land owned by Sabic, making it the largest industrial renewable power plant in Europe. The plant is expected to be fully operational in 2024.
The 25-year deal is said to represent 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 its sites in India and Thailand, helping reduce greenhouse emissions by 200 tonness, and Sabic’s Home of Innovation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has been solar-powered since 2015.
Bob Maughon, EVP Sustainability, Technology & Innovation and CTO and CSO at Sabic, said: “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. The solar PV powered plant in Cartagena demonstrates that Sabic continues to drive the sustainability agenda in the chemicals industry and that a transition on such a large scale is possible.
“In recent years, the many breakthroughs in renewable energy technology have made deployment at this kind of scale possible. Our commitment to technology and innovation means we will always be early adopters, and we are optimally positioned to undertake this transformation right now. The new PV plant will deliver an 80kt annual reduction in indirect CO2 emissions, and furthers strengthens our support and contribution to wider climate change initiatives like EU 2030 and our alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
Plans are also underway to install PV technology at Sabic’s global HQ in Riyadh, and a final-stage feasibility study with Marafiq and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu is underway to explore a US$300 million, 300-megawatt solar array project on the western coast of Saudi Arabia. Once complete, Sabic says it will take the electricity generated by the plant and deliver it to local chemicals manufacturing plants.