MOL steps into the solar power business
MOL Group recently announced plans to build solar power plants in three of its industrial sites located in Hungary. The project supports MOL Group’s strategic objective to build its industrial capabilities, while supporting company’s wider sustainability goals.
MOL Group has a long-standing experience in conventional energy production, however, as part of its 2030 strategy it aims to prepare for beyond the fuel age and explore opportunities arising from alternative energy technologies.
The photovoltaic power plants are planned to operate at the total capacity of 18.38 MWp, which is the equivalent to the consumption needs of more than nine thousand households.
Apart from covering parts of the energy needs of its own operation, the project provides an excellent opportunity for MOL to acquire expertise in the solar technology field and seize future opportunities in this promising market.
The green electricity generated by the solar facilities is expected to eliminate nine thousand tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
This will contribute to the fulfillment of MOL’s sustainability goals of reducing direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions as well as increase its earnings from alternative energy sources in line with the company’s Sustainable Development 2020 strategy.
This expansion will also further contribute to improving MOL Group’s already strong sustainability performance, as it consistently achieves high scores across leading ESG research and rating houses, including Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, MSCI, Sustainalytics and Bloomberg.
“The project is a true reflection of our ambition to become one of the leading innovators in the region, envisioned in the 2030 strategy. At MOL we recognized that solar power will play an important role in the future energy systems, and thus we started to build our industrial capabilities by tapping into this dynamically growing business. The photovoltaic plants are for us also an excellent way of utilizing the potential of unused areas of our sites, while supporting our commitment to decrease the environmental footprint by reducing carbon emissions from our operations,” Sándor Fasimon, Chief Operating Officer at MOL, said.
Construction of the solar panels is expected to be finalized by the end of 2018. The facilities will be located in the area of MOL’s three key assets: in the petrochemical plant in Tiszaújváros, in the Danube refinery in Százhalombatta as well as in the Füzesgyarmat facility, and will be connected to MOL’s local internal medium voltage distribution networks.
