In-house energy production

Photovoltaic project on a new scale

20,000

Solar panels

In June 2021, Aurubis Bulgaria started building a 10 MW solar plant on the premises of the site in Pirdop. As an industrial consumer of this size, Aurubis Bulgaria is setting new benchmarks for in-house production of green energy in Bulgaria with this project.

After its completion, scheduled for late 2021, it will be the largest company solar plant for in-house electricity generation in the country. The Aurubis-1 project comprises the installation of 20,000 solar panels on a remediated and recultivated landfill – with a total area of 104,000 m². CEZ ESCO, a company of the CEZ Group, is building the Aurubis-1 solar plant.

Reducing emissions with in-house electricity

With this project, Aurubis is taking the next step toward sustainable multimetal production: the project already contributes to our strategic objective of making our production carbon-neutral by 2050. Once commissioned, Aurubis-1 will reduce the annual external electricity consumption by approximately 11,000 MWh. This is equivalent to 2.5 % of the site’s electricity needs. Aurubis Bulgaria will thus save 15,000 t of CO₂ each year with the project compared to the use of coal-generated power – that’s 225,000 t of CO₂ over its planned operating life. In the medium term, this contribution from Aurubis Bulgaria will help the Aurubis Group fulfill its ambitious goals. The plant wants to produce 20 % of its energy from its own renewable sources by mid-2030.

These strong objectives will help further reduce our already very small footprint within the international sector and expand our leading position in environmental protection.