03-07-2017
6,500 solar panels now have been installed on the roofs of the Charleroi and Liège sorting centres. They capture no less than 17,000 m2 of solar energy.
The solar panels that were recently installed on the roof of the sorting centre in Fleurus (Charleroi) have just been inaugurated in the presence of the Walloon minister of energy Christophe Lacroix and the CEOs of bpost and Engie, Koen Van Gerven and Philppe van Troeye.
bpost gave ENGIE the use of the roofs to install 6,500 solar panels at the Charleroi and Liège sites, which capture 17,000 m² of solar energy and are expected to produce 1,700,000 kWh (*) per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of around 500 households. Most of the energy produced will be consumed locally.
The new installation doubles the photovoltaic energy capacity at bpost premises from the existing 15,000 m² of solar panels. As part of its sustainability strategy, bpost endeavours to minimise the ecological footprint of its business activities. With that in mind, the company consumes only green energy and produces as much energy as it can. The buildings are also equipped with energy-saving systems, such as state-of-the-art LED lighting, thermal insulation, energy-efficient heat ventilation and air conditioning. This overall approach has earned bpost first place in the ranking of the world’s greenest postal companies for the fourth consecutive year and strengthens its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations.
After a successful launch on the residential market in August 2016, at the end of 2016 ENGIE introduced its solar panel range for the business market in Belgium. To this end it established a new subsidiary ENGIE SUN4BUSINESS. ENGIE SUN4BUSINESS is a partnership between ENGIE Electrabel and Orka, a Belgian company that has developed tens of solar energy projects at companies in Flanders and Brussels, with a total installed capacity of 32 Mwp. ENGIE SUN4BUSINESS has financed the investment of bpost through the third-party investors structure and will supply the energy at an economical price. Ownership of the systems will be transferred to bpost after 10 years. The solar panels were installed by ENGIE Fabricom Solar Technics, an ENGIE subsidiary, which is also responsible for maintenance.
Philippe Van Troeye, CEO of Engie: “With ENGIE SUN4BUSINESS we have the ambition to achieve 60 MWp of installed capacity in Belgium by 2020. As the country’s biggest green energy producer (614 MW) and with our 17,000 professionals in Belgium this fits in perfectly with our goal of continuing to invest in green energy and taking the lead in the energy transition.”
Koen Van Gerven, CEO of bpost: “Our goal is to deliver every letter and every parcel with the smallest possible impact on the environment, based on a series of initiatives that make our vehicles and buildings greener. The partnership with Engie not only helps us build on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but also enables us to live up to our reputation as the greenest postal operator every single day.”
Source: bpost
*kWh = kilowatt hour is a unit of work or, in other words, a quantity of electrical energy.