Schneider Electric completes the decarbonisation of its plant in Barcelona and inaugurates the microgrid alongside Iberdrola Spain
Iberdrola Spain and Schneider Electric, a global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, held an event on Monday at the French company's plant in Molins de Rei (Barcelona) to celebrate the milestone of becoming a Zero CO2 factory and to inaugurate the microgrid that Iberdrola Spain has developed alongside the company.
The event was attended by Josu Ugarte, president of Schneider Electric in the Iberian region; Yann Reynaud, SVP Global ETO at Schneider Electric; Andrés Carasso, institutional delegate of Iberdrola Spain; Luis Buil, director of Smart Solutions at Iberdrola Spain; Jordi Sargatal, secretary for Ecological Transition at the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition of the Government of Catalonia; Santi Martínez, president of L'Energètica; Xavier Paz, mayor of Molins de Rei; among other institutional representatives.
The French company's plant in Molins de Rei has achieved Zero CO2 Factory status by reaching 100% of its emission reduction targets. Since 2019, it has improved its energy efficiency by 24%, to which must be added the extra 11% that a new electric boiler will provide. In addition, since 2017, it has reduced CO2 emissions by 2,250 tonnes per year, achieving Zero Emissions in Scope 1 and 2. As a result, the production centre has become a key player in the decarbonisation of the industry. It also contributes to more ambitious goals such as the European Green Deal, which stipulates that Europe must be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
In addition, the new microgrid installed at the plant will reinforce its efforts to reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions by providing access to green energy. The key is its 990 solar panels capable of producing 670 MWh/year, 10% of the factory's total consumption, under a 20-year PPA contract signed with Iberdrola Spain: five electric vehicle charging points and 216 kWh of battery storage.
Andrés Carasso, Iberdrola Spain's Institutional Delegate in Catalonia, highlighted that ‘this microgrid project is an example of how electrification will enable a company to be more competitive in economic terms, more sustainable and have a more resilient facility by combining self-consumption, battery storage and energy management in a single project.’
"The project we have launched at our Molins de Rei plant not only reinforces Schneider Electric's commitment to sustainability but also demonstrates that it is possible and profitable to transform industry by combining electrification and digitalisation. Most importantly, it is a replicable and scalable model that can be applied to any factory seeking to move towards a more decarbonised and resilient model," explains Josu Ugarte, President of Schneider Electric in the Iberian region.
