Renewable

September 24 (Renewables Now) - French energy management company Schneider Electric (EPA:SU) will assess the energy needs across all factories of Danish roof windows maker Velux and develop zero-carbon action plans for these as part of an expanded partnership between the two firms.

At the start of the year, Velux announced it was looking for fixed-price power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable energy and said Schneider Electric would be its full-service buyer's advisor. Earlier this week, the two announced an extended partnership agreement to enable the VELUX Group to reach its carbon neutral goal by 2030.

Under the three-year collaboration, Schneider will develop and implement zero-carbon action plans across all of Velux’s factories, help the company boost energy efficiency and onsite renewable energy use, and continuously monitor and analyse Velux’s energy usage.

Velux plans to kick start the effort at its plants in Germany, under JTJ Sonneborn Industrie GmbH, and Poland, under NM Polska Sp. z o.o. -- its two most energy-consuming factories, accounting for 25% of the energy demand in Velux production. There, the company will move to green heating by installing renewables-powered heat pumps and by using wood waste from certified forests. It will also install onsite solar arrays and invest in additional energy efficiency measures.

Under a Lifetime Carbon Neutral goal, Velux aims to capture its historical carbon footprint, reduce future emissions and partner with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on forest conservation globally. It plans to be 100% carbon neutral by 2030 across scope 1 and 2 emissions, and halve value chain (scope 3) emissions by that same year.