Lenzing Group signs deal to finance solar panel plant

The Lenzing Group, a provider in wood-based fibres, has announced that it has signed onto an electricity supply contract with green power producer Enery and Energie Steiermark which will see it finance the development of a solar panel plant.

With construction set to commence this autumn in Austria’s Deutschlandsberg region, the plant will supply Lenzing’s site from the fourth quarter of 2023 in a contract limited to 20 years.

According to the group’s release, the plant’s output will amount to 5.5 MWpeak, corresponding to the average annual electricity demand of more than 1,700 households.

“In order to reduce our carbon emissions even further in line with our strategic targets, we aim in the future to rely to an even greater extent on electricity generated from renewable energies,” said Stephan Sielaff, Lenzing Group’s CEO, in its press release.

Sielaff continued: “Concepts such as these will make us less dependent on global energy markets in the medium to long term and further support our transition from a linear to a circular economy model.”

The company, which is responsible for the production of Tencel’s cellulosic fibres, is currently implementing initiatives that will support its goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030, a mission that has been backed by the Science Based Targets Initiative.