AstraZeneca launches in-house solar 0.5 MW project as part of ‘Ambition Zero Carbon’

AstraZeneca India has accelerated the renewable energy productivity targets in power and heat by installing more than 1,176 solar panels in its factory premises to reduce the overall carbon footprint. This 588KWp solar array will generate approximately 900,000 KWh per annum that will provide 12 to 15 per cent of energy requirement of the manufacturing site at Bengaluru. This will also result in the reduction of more than 20,000 tons of CO2 emission over system’s lifetime. With this installation, more than 90 per cent of the manufacturing site energy requirements is now being provided vide solar power, a company statement said.

The ‘Ambition Zero Carbon’ is AstraZeneca’s contribution to help tackle the climate crisis. The initiative was launched in January 2020 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, with an investment of $1 billion to convert AstraZeneca sites across the world to carbon-neutral sites to drive the environmental protection agenda of the company, it informed.

Commenting on the occasion, Gagan Singh Bedi, Managing Director, AstraZeneca India, said, “Climate change, today, poses a serious threat to public health, the environment and the global economy’s long-term viability. We are happy to continue our energy sustainability goals to meet a zero carbon emission organisation by 2025. We have fast-tracked our sustainability goals to meet the global demand to minimise carbon emissions and global warming that has been affecting many communities around the world. We look forward to continuing our sustainability initiatives to contribute to a better world in the years to come.”

The statement further notified that the ‘Ambition Zero Carbon’ accelerates a plan launched in 2015 to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, with targets validated in accordance with climate change research. AstraZeneca will shift 100 per cent of its energy use to renewable sources for both power and heat by 2025 in order to achieve carbon neutrality.

Speaking on the initiative, Mina Patel, Site Head, AstraZeneca India, said, “The commitment made today by AstraZeneca as part of our ‘Ambition Zero Carbon’ plan will allow us to accelerate the reduction of our organisation’s climate footprint. This step will also be the way for more companies to warm up to the need to build a more sustainable renewable energy source that will support the national and global sustainability goals. It gives me great pleasure to have instituted the programme at our Bengaluru plant and contribute towards the company’s global goal of 100 per cent carbon neutrality by 2025.”