Ardagh Glass Packaging-Europe (AGP-Europe), an operating business of Ardagh Group, announced today that it has entered a renewable electricity Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Sunnic Lighthouse GmbH and parent company, ENERPARC AG, in Germany. The PPA secures a longer-term solar energy supply allocation to AGP-Europe’s NextGen Furnace in Obernkirchen, Germany. Switching from 90% gas and 10% electricity towards 80% renewable electricity and 20% gas in the furnace is one of the key enablers of producing low-carbon glass packaging*.
The PPA will also secure a solar energy supply allocation to Ardagh Metal Packaging (AMP) facilities in Germany, which makes this the first of its kind to supply renewable energy to both AGP and AMP.
Jan Knievel, Head of Origination at Sunnic Lighthouse GmbH said: “Together with Ardagh and our parent company ENERPARC AG, we have structured this long-term PPA in which we have fixed an annual volume of around 130 gigawatt hours. We will start with the delivery from existing ENERPARC plants throughout Germany. At the same time, ENERPARC is developing a solar park near the Ardagh facility, to cover their electricity needs onsite.”
Martin Petersson, CEO AGP-Europe said: “Securing long-term renewable electricity for our NextGen Furnace is key to decarbonising glass production. This PPA will also take AGP-Europe another step closer to meeting our goal of transitioning to 100% renewable electricity by 2030.”
David Spratt, CEO AMP-Europe added: “The signing of this agreement shows AMP’s firm commitment to Ardagh’s decarbonisation strategy and achieves a new milestone in the Group’s goal to reduce scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 42% by 2030, from a 2020 baseline.”
*A 2023 Life Cycle Analysis demonstrates the carbon savings per glass bottle to be produced in the NextGen Furnace, compared to a bottle from a conventional AGP furnace. A typical 330ml glass bottle produced in the conventional AGP furnace at Obernkirchen produces 140.1g of CO2, compared with one to be produced in the NextGen Furnace once fully operational at 80% renewable electricity and 20% gas, which will produce 43g of CO2: a 69% reduction across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Depending on the production mix, the NextGen Furnace could save up to 45,000 tonnes of carbon every year, compared to a conventional furnace.