L’Oreal Going Forward With 2 New Solar Power Installations
L’Oreal USA is having two new solar arrays installed at its manufacturing facilities in Kentucky and Arkansas. The array in Kentucky will be 1.5 MW and the one in Arkansas will be 1.2 MW. Construction on the first will start in late 2016, and the one in North Little Rock is expected to be operational by the middle of 2017. Jonathon Maher, L’Oreal VP of CSR & Sustainability, answered some questions for CleanTechnica.
1. What prompted L’Oreal to want to install the solar arrays?
Our interest in solar isn’t new, we’ve believed in the virtues of renewable energy for some time, as early as 2011 with our first solar installation at our Piscataway, New Jersey, manufacturing facility. Simply put, we believe renewable energies are in our long-term interest from both an environmental and business perspective. Today L’Oréal USA is recognized as one of the leading 25 companies for U.S. solar power capacity by the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) with solar installations across multiple facilities, totaling 13.5 MW of energy. But we’re not only favoring solar, we’re also implementing other types of renewable energy projects. We recently installed 12 wind turbines on the rooftop of our Dallas Distribution Center.
2. Once the two new ones are operational, will the US manufacturing facilities be running on 100% renewable electricity?
That is correct. With these two projects as well as the additional planned purchase of locally-sourced renewable energy certificates, L’Oreal USA will achieve 100% renewable electricity for its manufacturing facilities in the United States.
3. Why does the company have a focus on reducing carbon emissions so much? Is there an overall plan for doing so?
Under our global sustainability strategy Sharing Beauty with All, L’Oreal is committed to making a transition to low-carbon practices across our business. In order to achieve this, we established ambitious targets to reduce our environmental footprint. Chief among them is our goal to reduce our global carbon footprint by 60% by the year 2020, from its 2005 baseline.
The company has already made some great strides in meeting this goal, and our renewable energy projects here in the U.S. are paving the way for the company. The solar projects in Kentucky and Arkansas, coupled with the planned purchase of locally-sourced RECs, will enable L’Oréal USA to achieve an 80% CO2 reduction from its 2005 baseline.
4. How much might the company save financially by using clean, renewable energy for manufacturing?
L’Oréal will benefit from locking in its electricity costs for the next 30 years, shielding the company from future electricity price increases that may result from the volatility of fossil fuel prices.
5. Will the company invest later in energy storage too?
We were not able to identify viable energy storage technology for these projects. In light of this, the solar arrays will be designed to ensure that all of the electricity generated by the arrays will be used by the facilities.
6. Same question for energy efficiency.
We’re very engaged in improving our energy efficiency and have been for many years. Our efforts have been recognized externally — last year, we were awarded the “Star of Energy Efficiency” by the Alliance to Save Energy. We’re going to continue to strive to make efficiency gains. In fact, we joined the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Better Plants Program in 2016, in which we’ve pledged to reduce our plants’ energy intensity by 25% over the next ten-year period.
This is an important piece of our Sharing Beauty will All Plan. As mentioned earlier, we’re committed to reducing our carbon emissions by 60% by the year 2020. There are two ways to do it: Either you replace your energy sources with more renewable ones that emit less carbon, or you simply use less energy and thus emit less carbon. This is where the DoE’s Better Plants program comes in.
7. Are the companies who are installing the solar arrays local to Kentucky and Arkansas?
The company who will be installing both arrays, Scenic Hill Solar, is located in Arkansas. As part of this partnership, we’ve ensured that all solar panels will be built in the U.S.
8. Will other L’Oreal sites also be getting solar power at some point?
Many of them already do! With these two new projects, we now have 16 solar installations across 9 facilities here in the U.S. The facilities range from our manufacturing plants to our distribution centers and Research & Innovation labs. As a rule, we explore the feasibility of renewable energy projects in all of our facilities.
9. Will any L’Oreal sites have EV charging stations at some point?
We already do — we have charging stations in our Berkeley Heights building in New Jersey, installed back in 2012.
10. Are there any state or federal incentives the company will benefit from when the solar installations are completed?
The projects will benefit from the federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) but there are no state tax credits in Kentucky and Arkansas. We moved ahead with these projects nevertheless, which underscores our commitment to renewable energy.
Image Credit: L’Oreal
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