Ontex has broken ground on a large solar installation at the site of its factory in Ortona, Abruzzo region of Italy. The new solar installation will produce 11.6 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the yearly consumption of more than 3500 households. 
Ontex’s factories in Italy and eight other European countries run on 100% electricity from renewable sources. The company is installing solar power installations in Europe and the Americas to produce more energy on-site.
 
Annick De Poorter, Ontex’s Executive Vice President for R&D and Sustainability, says, “As demand for sustainably produced electricity is expected to increase, we prefer to have direct access to electricity that is produced on-site in a sustainable way. We can now produce more than a quarter of the electricity we need to manufacture essential hygiene goods at our factory in Italy. This is another step towards our goal to have carbon neutral operations by 2030. We will reach this goal through on-site renewable energy production, energy savings, purchasing energy from renewable sources, and carbon offsets via reforestation projects.” 

The solar system was developed and financed by the company Menapy, which also installed Ontex’s solar power in Eeklo, Belgium and Segovia, Spain. Federico Dotto, country manager, Menapy Italia srl, says: “This project marks an important milestone for Menapy in the Italian market. It crystallizes our long-term experience in industrial rooftop and solar projects in Europe and it confirms that our ‘Solar as a Service’ can bring important added value to high-consuming industries in Italy. Ontex has clear and ambitious goals in sustainability and saving on energy costs, and with this project we help them achieve both, without the investment.”

Construction is expected to take approximately six months. Construction is scheduled to end during the first months of 2022, allowing for the production of personal hygiene products with solar power from the spring of 2022. 
 
Antimo Bovenzi, Ontex Ortona plant manager said: “Having access to our own green electricity is great. It makes us less dependent on price fluctuations of the green electricity market. It will also top off the peaks of our electricity demand, providing homeowners and businesses around our factory with a more robust power grid.“
 
Since 2017, 100% of Ontex’s European factories, or 75% of its plants worldwide, have run on electricity from renewable sources. Ontex plants purchase renewable electricity via Energy Attribute Certificates (EAC’s) and some also produce their own energy.  Large rooftop solar capacity is installed at Ontex plants  in Eeklo, Belgium and Segovia, Spain.