Kimberly-Clark (K-C), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of personal care and hygiene products and owner of household brands such as BabySoft®, Kleenex®, Kotex® and Huggies®, has signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with integrated energy solutions company, Energy Partners (EP).
According to the terms of the agreement, EP will install a 2.2MW rooftop system at K-C’s Epping facility, making it one of the largest rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the City of Cape Town.
Once complete, the system will allow an annual energy production of 3,478MWh per year, saving more than 3,130 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year1, the equivalent of powering 1,030 median residential homes in the country every year2.
Partnering to meet ambitious sustainability goals
Charl du Plessis, General Manager of EP Power, confirms that the design of the system was developed in close collaboration with K-C’s local and international engineers and project managers to ensure compliance with regulatory and design specifications.
Says du Plessis, “The new rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems will enhance K-C’s capacity to manage electricity consumption, whilst also enabling them to substantially increase their renewables penetration. This is especially exciting to us, and we are proud to be part of K-C’s journey to meeting their 2030 sustainability goals.”
Steven Hayes, General Manager of K-C Sub-Saharan Africa, says, “We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and this project will contribute towards helping us meet our 2030 goal to reduce total emissions by 50% compared to 2015 globally.
“The installation of this rooftop solar photovoltaic system and partnership with EP is a significant step towards achieving our renewable energy targets, and we are proud to be part of the solution in creating a more sustainable future for South Africa.”
Construction of the system, which will include 4,000 solar panels, will commence shortly. The system is expected to produce its first clean energy in 2024.
