Nestlé Waters: new solar power plant in Jordan to supply 40% of factory’s energy needs

Nestlé Waters has inaugurated a new solar power plant in Jordan, taking the company one step closer to achieving its commitment to use 100% renewable electricity in its operations.

The new installation at the group’s factory in Al Husseiniya, Ma’an Province, in southern Jordan, generates enough power to supply two fifths of the site’s current energy demand – a saving of 1300 tons of CO2 per year.

A second solar installation at the site is planned for completion in 2019, with the aim of making the factory fully energy independent.

“This is the first fully Nestlé-owned large-scale solar power farm in Zone AOA”, said Claus Conzelmann, Regional Vice President, Technical, Water Resources & Environment, Nestlé Waters. “It marks another important milestone in phasing out the use of fossil fuels in our operations.”

Once both phases of the project in Jordan are complete, the plant could supply surplus electricity to the national grid, keeping spare capacity to cover additional demand for a potential factory extension in future.

More than 3,000 solar panels, standing on spare land next to the factory and covering an area of more than 16,500 square meters – around the size of two football pitches – provide the power.

The region has on average more than 300 days of sunshine per year, making it an ideal location for solar energy generation.

Switching to renewables

In China, Nestlé Waters inaugurated a smaller solar installation last year, built and operated by a third party. Another installation will follow later this year at the company’s factory in Dubai, part of a wider solar power development supplying two Nestlé Middle East food factories

As with all Nestlé factories, the site in Al Husseiniya in Jordan is certified to the Environmental Management Standard ISO 14001.

The site is also on track to seek Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification.