One of Sweden’s largest solar farms, located near Åhus in Skåne, has now entered operation. It is the size of 8 football pitches and produces approximately 8 GWh of electricity a year, which is enough to power 1,600 houses. The investment is a joint initiative between Nolato, electricity company Bixia and solar energy company Alight.

Important step towards ambitious sustainability target

The operational startup of the solar farm marks a further step for Nolato towards achieving its ambitious sustainability target. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions from our own business operations is a top priority for Nolato, and investing in renewable electricity generated from the sun and wind, optimizing goods transportation, reducing waste, cutting use of materials and using more renewable raw materials are all examples of action we are taking to achieve our target, which is to reduce our CO2 emissions by 80% by 2025.

“It’s fantastic that the agreement we concluded last year is now starting to generate energy for our production facilities. Besides producing our own renewable electricity, reducing our environmental impact and securing some of our energy needs, we are also shielding ourselves from volatility in the electricity market for the period of the contract,” said Glenn Svedberg, Director of Sustainable Affairs at Nolato.

Construction of the solar farm began last autumn and the project came about via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between Nolato, Bixia and solar PPA provider Alight. The agreement means that Alight will develop, own and operate the facility, while Nolato, via electricity trading partner Bixia, undertakes to purchase all the electricity produced by the farm for a minimum of ten years. Bixia has been managing Nolato’s energy portfolio, which is entirely renewable, for many years.

“The electricity produced by the solar farm accounts for roughly 15% of Nolato’s annual consumption in Sweden. Including a solar farm in the customer’s price-hedging strategy adds considerable value. It’s a long-term and attractive price-hedging approach and it boosts renewable generation in southern Sweden, where there is a power generation deficit,” noted Marcus Annell, Head of Financial Trading at Bixia.

“We’re delighted about our partnership with Nolato and Bixia, which has facilitated the expansion of new green energy in Sweden. This project is leading the way for industry towards more sustainable energy production, and showing that it’s possible in just one year to go from decision to a completed, large-scale solar farm that secures electricity needs for the long term,” said Harald Överholm, CEO at Alight.