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Green power initiative: AGRANA deploys further energy efficiency measures at Gmünd potato starch factory

Collaboration with RWA Solar Solutions as the installer and operator of AGRANA’s first large-scale photovoltaic installation, covering an area of 1,650 m2

Date: 17.01.2022

On the site of the potato starch factory in Gmünd, in the Waldviertel region, the fruit, starch and sugar group AGRANA has constructed a large-scale photovoltaic system under a contracting model in collaboration with RWA Solar Solutions. This installation is ready to go online at immediate notice.

A total of 890 photovoltaic modules covering an area of around 1,650 m2 have been installed on the roof of the potato starch factory and, with a capacity 334 kWp, will produce around 338,000 kWh of power annually. The total annual solar power output generated at the Gmünd site is equivalent to the requirements of approximately 75 households.

“Our green power initiative will continue in the coming year with the construction and commissioning of photovoltaic systems at a further four AGRANA sites in Austria. As an energy-intensive processor of agricultural raw materials, AGRANA is firmly committed to action aimed at achieving its goal of climate-natural production activities by 2040. The photovoltaic systems at our production sites are a further component of our decarbonisation strategy in order to achieve our emissions targets,” stresses AGRANA CTO Norbert Harringer.

The power generated by the photovoltaic system will be entirely consumed by AGRANA. RWA Solar Solutions GmbH, a subsidiary of RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG, is the planner, constructor and commercial owner of the photovoltaic system. It will also undertake the ongoing operation and maintenance of the photovoltaic systems.

“If we want to achieve the energy revolution, we need to rely more extensively on solar power in Austria in the coming years and expand the scale of solar installations. We regard it as our responsibility to deploy our expertise in the interests of climate protection and hope that many other companies will follow the good example set by AGRANA and also make their production processes more sustainable,” explains the member of the Executive Board of Raiffeisen Ware Austria, Christoph Metzker.

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