Umicore has signed two separate long-term power purchase agreements with Engie and Axpo to source renewable electricity from offshore and onshore wind turbines in Belgium.
These agreements will cover more than half of the electricity demand from Umicore’s Belgian sites and help the group achieve its objective to be carbon neutral by 2035.
Both contracts started in January of this year and will mainly serve Umicore’s plant in Hoboken, one of the world’s largest precious metals recycling facilities, and its site in Olen, which houses various activities as well as the company’s Research & Development headquarters.
Under the agreement with Engie, Umicore has secured the production of 28MW from offshore wind turbines in the Belgian North Sea. Engie will be providing Umicore with around 100GWh of renewable electricity per year until 2030.
Under the 14-year PPA with Axpo, Umicore will receive renewable electricity from an onshore wind farm in Belgium.
Umicore has exclusively secured the production from this wind farm, with Axpo providing around 35GWh per year until 2035.
“Umicore’s ambitious roadmap towards carbon neutrality by 2035, while growing our company, requires us to use all levers and capabilities to get there. This includes switching to renewable energy as fast as we can for all our operations worldwide,” said CEO of Umicore Mathias Miedreich.
“These two renewable electricity agreements with Engie and Axpo help cover the electricity needs of two of our largest sites in the world and reduce our scope 2 emissions.”