SARIA‘s dedication to solar energy

The importance of sustainability and renewable energies has always been an essential aspect of SARIA’s entrepreneurial culture. Entire business units of the Group have specialized in the production of renewable energy from organic residues. ReFood, for example, generates green energy from food leftovers in its own biogas plants, while ecoMotion, as a pioneer in European biodiesel production, will also produce sustainable aviation fuel from animal fats and used cooking oils at the TotalEnergies site in Grandpuits (France) from 2025.

In order to supply the company sites with sustainable energy in addition to that generated from the manufacturing processes themselves, investments have also been made in photovoltaic installations worldwide in recent years. The latest solar project started in May at SARIA’s headquarters in Selm (Germany). A new carport for 60 parking spaces is currently being built here. As part of the project, a photovoltaic system is being installed on the roof, which will produce an average of 160,000 kWh of electricity per year and achieve a peak output of 170 kWp. Each of the 60 parking spaces will also be equipped with a power source via charging points so that electric cars can be conveniently charged on site in the future. The construction project is expected to be completed in October 2024.

A look at the sites around the world shows that this initiative to use solar power as a renewable energy source is being actively promoted in all of the SARIA Group’s entities.

At our Devro site in Nantong (China), a photovoltaic system with a peak output of 1,020 kWp was put into operation. In 2023, it produced almost 2,000 kWh of solar power, covering 9% of the site’s total electricity consumption. Bioiberica aims to generate 24,000 kWh of solar energy itself with its own photovoltaic installations in 2024. Almost 600 m² of photovoltaic panels have already been installed at the ecoMotion site in Montmeló (Spain). The fermentation residue storage tank at the ReFood site in Les Herbiers (France) has even been covered with 1800 m² of solar cells – an area the size of an ice hockey field – since it was built in 2009. At Van Hessen, one of the company’s largest sustainability projects in 2022 was the installation of solar cells at the headquarters in Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel (Netherlands). The roofs of the site were equipped with a total of 1,262 panels. These can produce almost 500,000 kWh of solar energy, which is enough to supply over 2,850 desktop workstations with electricity for an entire year.

All Group-wide investments in sustainable energy management are an expression of our joint efforts to consistently pursue our own corporate purpose: Together towards a sustainable world and a healthier living.