Glass packaging manu-facturer Owens-Illinois (O-I) has set up a new photovoltaic plant at its site at Béziers, France, with the help of green energy producer Aérowatt.
The plant was inaugurated in the presence of Philippe Chopin (Subprefect of Béziers), Raymond Couderc (Senator-Mayor of Béziers and President of Communauté d’Agglo-mération de Béziers Méditerranée), Christian Bourquin (President of Languedoc-Roussillon reg-ion), Jean-Michel Du Plaa (Vice President of Conseil Général de l’Hérault) and Elisabeth Viola (Regional Director of the Caisse des Dépôts).
O-I chose Aérowatt to install and operate the photovoltaic panels at the plant. Since autumn 2010, 10,085m2 of modules have been installed at Béziers, covering four warehouses, and representing a global capacity of 1381.5kWp to produce green energy and supply the EDF electrical network.
Since the construction of the plant in 1999, O-I has been investing in state-of-the-art equipment in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. This includes an advanced technology, energy-efficient furnace, and a station that continuously filters and treats water.
Glass recycling is also a major priority at the Béziers site. O-I is steadily increasing the proportion of cullet in its manufacturing process (see article on page 17 for details) and up to 90% is used at Béziers.
Facilitated by the extensive surfaces of its warehouses, O-I is one of the first glass manufacturers to equip its plants with solar panels and, it confirms, several new projects are ongoing at its European plants.
