Butlers Chocolates and Gaelectric announce the largest solar energy installation in the Republic of Ireland at the Butlers Chocolates headquarters in Clonshaugh Business Park, Dublin 17. The installation covers approximately 2,850 square meters (or 30,660 square feet) of the roof area of the Butlers Chocolates factory with a 420kWp photovoltaic (or PV') solar array, which will generate over 350,000 kWh of electricity using over 1,500 individual PV panels.
The installation has been designed and will be installed by Gaelectric in what is its first foray into "behind the meter" renewable energy projects. The installation will meet approximately 14% of the base load electricity requirement of the Butlers Chocolates factory and will save the equivalent of c. 195 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum. Construction work on the project is about to commence with the installation scheduled to be up and running, and generating clean renewable solar power, by the spring of 2017.
Commenting, Butlers Chocolates Marketing Director, Aisling Walsh said: "Butlers Chocolates have long been Purveyors of Happiness with chocolates and coffee. Sunshine is another ingredient that brings us happiness and brightens up our days. We are delighted to bring sunshine and chocolates together with Ireland's largest solar power installation on the roof of the Butlers Chocolates factory in Clonshaugh.
We are committed to the sustainable production of delicious chocolates. We source ethically from around the world and are continuously working to reduce the impacts of our manufacturing and distribution systems on the environment.
Butlers Chocolates is also a member of the An Bord Bia Origin Green sustainability programme. We have signed the Origin Green Charter and have committed to sustainability objectives that are independently verified. This solar energy installation increases our use of renewable power in our manufacturing process and improves the sustainability of Butlers Chocolates. Always delicious, our chocolates will now be made with a little more light and happiness!"
Commenting, Joe O'Carroll Managing Director of Gaelectric Solar Energy, said: "With this solar installation, Butlers Chocolates are taking a leading position in the Irish food industry in showing how increasing sustainability in a manufacturing process makes both commercial and operational sense. As solar PV technology has improved and reduced in price, PV technology is now a viable commercial option for a wide range of businesses that have both an onsite electricity requirement and available real estate (roof or ground) on which to mount PV solar installations.
This is the first of many similar projects that Gaelectric will be developing in the near term as it further develops its renewable energy offering for commercial and industrial energy consumers in Ireland and abroad.
The project underlines the unstoppable march of renewable energy which is being led by consumers of all scales - residential, commercial and industrial. The ever increasing desire for renewable energy could be accelerated by the implementation of numerous low-cost policy changes and we continue to work with the Government and its relevant agencies to bring about these changes."
