MOROCCO – Multinational food manufacturing giant Nestle has inaugurated a private solar station in Morocco at the city of El Jadida in line with its focus on reducing green-gas emissions.
The station covers a land of 7,000 square meters adjacent to the company’s factory operating some 2,600photovoltaic panels to produce 1.7 gigawatts of electricity per year, eliminating more than one million kilograms of CO2.
Morocco’s Minister of Energy Aziz Rabbah at the inauguration ceremony highlighted that Nestle’s installation of the solar station was in line with the county’s strategy that aims to produce more than 52% of the country’s electricity from renewable resources by 2030.
Nestle Morocco thanked Moroccan authorities for their support for the project with Remy Ejel, Chairman and CEO of Nestle Middle East and North Africa saying, “We thank the local authorities for their support, without which the completion of this solar station would not have been possible.”
“We have reduced the total greenhouse gas emissions in our regional plants by about 60% over the past decade. We are committed to achieving net emissions of zero percent by 2050 – in line with our global strategy.”
Remy Ejel – Chairman and CEO of Nestle Middle East and North Africa
According to Moroccan state media, the station was built by Qair, a company specializing in renewable energies at a cost of MAD 12 million (US$1.34 million).
Nestle’s El Jadida solar project is the third station put up in the Middle East and North Africa after the inauguration of similar plants in Dubai and Jordan.
Nestlé Al Maha plant in Dubai South, which includes 20,000 photovoltaic panels, produces 7.2 gigawatt hours of electricity and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide at 4.5 million kilograms annually.
Solar panels installed at the Husseiniya Water Factory in southern Jordan generate enough energy to secure 40% of the site’s current energy demand, thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1,300 tons annually.
Over the past decade, Nestlé has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 60% per tonne of production in 25 food, beverage and water product factories in the Middle East and North Africa, thus, the company has exceeded its original commitment of 35% by 2020.
This is in line with its plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030, and achieve net emissions rates of zero percent by the year 2050 in all its locations around the world.
The company intends to invest US$ 3.5 billion over the next five years to accelerate the achievement of these goals, including US$ 1.35 billion to encourage regenerative.
“We have reduced the total greenhouse gas emissions in our regional plants by about 60% over the past decade,” said Remy. “We are committed to achieving net emissions of zero percent by 2050 – in line with our global strategy.”
Nestle understands reaching zero percent emissions requires reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the farm to the consumers’ table, in addition to eliminating the remaining emissions in the atmosphere through carbon storage projects in the soil and trees.
The steps that the company intends to take around the world include: supporting farmers and suppliers to advance regenerative agriculture, planting hundreds of millions of trees within the next ten years and completing the company’s transformation to 100% renewable electricity by 2025, in addition to finding solutions to emissions from logistical operations and transportation.
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