Chr. Hansen turns up green energy to power sustainability ambitions
Chr. Hansen’s good bacteria and natural colours are now produced on 100% green energy in Denmark after two new solar parks were taken into operation.
Chr. Hansen has entered into power purchase agreement (PPA) with Better Energy, who has established two brand new solar parks. Energy Denmark will support the agreement by being responsible for creating a balance between consumption and production of electricity and handling the difference that will always exist when the sun doesn’t shine. In that way Chr. Hansen’s energy supply will be secured with power production from a mix of several other renewable sources like wind and biogas.
Chr. Hansen will take two-thirds of the annual energy production from the new parks; this corresponds to the consumption of 15,000 Danish households and reflects Chr. Hansen’s annual energy demand for its operations in Denmark, which makes up 40% of the global consumption for the Group.
Chr. Hansen, who was awarded as the world’s most sustainable company in 2019 and this year came in second on the prestigious list published by Canadian Corporate Knights, is committed to minimising its footprint:
“We want to contribute positively to the transition to green energy. That is why we have decided to buy solar energy from Better Energy’s two new parks so that our good bacteria and natural colours have a green footprint, both externally with our customers and on our home turf where some of our largest production sites are located,” said Annemarie Meisling, senior director of sustainability, Chr. Hansen.
The company’s production plant in Copenhagen, which is the world’s largest factory for the production of lactic acid bacteria, accounts for more than 70% of Chr. Hansen Denmark’s total electricity consumption, whereas headquarters in Hoersholm north of Copenhagen accounts for around 15%. Two other Danish factories, located in Roskilde south west of Copenhagen and in Graasten close to the German border, account for the rest.
According to Peter Munck Søe-Jensen, EVP for power production & asset management in Better Energy, the agreement with Chr. Hansen is “groundbreaking”.
Jesper Deela Nielsen, senior manager in Global Sourcing, Chr. Hansen added that as the model is scalable, the global bioscience company can expand it to other countries.
He said: ”Today, our business and production in the US have an energy consumption that is around half of that of Chr. Hansen in Denmark, but with the expansions planned over the next years, we are expecting this to increase. We are currently in dialogue with different suppliers of renewable energy in the US with a view to seeing if we can land a solid agreement.”