Ardagh Glass Packaging-Europe (AGP-Europe), a division of Ardagh Group, has entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Sunnic Lighthouse and its parent company, ENERPARC, in Germany.  

This agreement is set to provide AGP-Europe's NextGen Furnace in Obernkirchen with a long-term allocation of solar energy.  

The PPA will ensure the transition from a fuel mix of 90% gas and 10% electricity to 80% renewable electricity and 20% gas for the furnace, enabling the production of low-carbon glass packaging.  

In addition, Ardagh Metal Packaging (AMP) facilities in Germany will receive solar energy via this agreement, making it the first of its kind to supply renewable energy to both AGP and AMP. 

Sunnic Lighthouse origination head Jan Knievel said: “Together with Ardagh and our parent company ENERPARC AG, we have structured this long-term PPA in which we have fixed an annual volume of around 130GWh. We will start with the delivery from existing ENERPARC plants throughout Germany.  

“At the same time, ENERPARC is developing a solar park near the Ardagh facility, to cover their electricity needs on site.” 

The PPA demonstrates AMP's commitment to Ardagh’s decarbonisation strategy and the group's objective to cut scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% by 2030, as against 2020 as the baseline year. 

AGP-Europe CEO Martin Petersson said: “Securing long-term renewable electricity for our NextGen Furnace is key to decarbonising glass production. This PPA will also take AGP-Europe another step closer to meeting our goal of transitioning to 100% renewable electricity by 2030.” 

Last month, AGP-Europe launched a new rooftop solar energy installation at its Irvine facility in Scotland, UK.