December 14 (SeeNews) - French tyre maker Michelin said on Thursday that it has completed a 1.1 million euro ($1.2 million) investment in a 0.99 MW photovoltaic (PV) park at its tyre plant in Zalau, northwestern Romania.
Of the total value of the project, 506,397 euro, or 45% of expenses, constituted a grant awarded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norwegian financial mechanism 2014-2021 within the Romanian Energy Programme, Michelin said in a press release.
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The project is aimed at covering the factory’s electricity consumption and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"We are glad that we were able to complete this project in Zalau and get closer to achieving a major goal for the company, which is to reduce carbon emissions from all its production facilities by 50% by 2030, relative to 2010 levels,” Laurentiu Paval, engineering manager at Michelin Zalau Anvelope, said.
The project is part of Michelin Group’s overall goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The PV park is comprised of 1,769 solar panels mounted on the roof of the tyre factory in Zalau. The park’s annual output is estimated at 1,041 MWh and the project will allow the company to cut carbon emissions by 318 tonnes per year.
The EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021 programme, which supported Michelin’s PV project, focuses on 12 programmes, providing Romania with funding of up to 502 million euro.
Michelin Group entered Romania in 2021 and currently employs over 4,500 people locally. The group owns two factories in Zalau and one in Floresti, along with a retail network and a shared service centre. Since 2018, Bucharest has served as the group’s coordination centre for thirty countries in Central Europe and Central Asia.
($=0.9169 euro)
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