Commercial, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  November 3, 2023

Merck Deploys Solar in Europe, Switzerland

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a science and technology company, will cover 100% of its current electricity purchases in the European Union (EU) and Switzerland with renewable energy certificates from 2025 onwards.  

The company signed virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for a total of around 300 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy per year with Matrix Renewables and Renantis. This corresponds to almost one- third of all electricity purchased by Merck globally in 2022. 

“If humanity is to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, it’s vital that global industry leaders accelerate their transition to renewable energy. By covering 100% of our purchased European electricity with renewable energy certificates from 2025, and advancing our efforts across all other regions, our company continues to demonstrate its global leadership. We remain fully on track to reach climate neutrality by 2040,” said Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in a statement. 

The new VPPAs have terms of 10 years each. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is utilizing a mix of solar and wind power that will be generated from five Spanish sites from 2025 onwards. Around 200 GWh of the contractually agreed electricity will come from photovoltaic plants, the remaining 100 GWh from wind farms.  

Merck KGaA will also receive sufficient energy certificates to fully cover the electricity purchased in 2022 for its three business sectors — life science, healthcare and electronics — for all sites in the EU and Switzerland.  

By 2030, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, aims to cover 80% of its worldwide-purchased electricity from renewable sources.

In recent years, the company has signed several VPPAs in North America and plans to cover 90% of its electricity consumption with renewable sources in 2024.  

With the new European VPPAs, renewable energy is expected to cover around 70% of purchased electricity for the entire company from 2025-on. 

Merck KGaA is also investing in renewable energy at its own sites. In 2022, the company installed around 7,000 solar modules in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, adding 4 GWh to the power grid annually. 

In cooperation with ENTEGA, rooftop photovoltaic systems at the Darmstadt headquarters and a photovoltaic park at the site in Gernsheim are currently being built. These projects are scheduled for completion by the end of 2023 and will generate up to 7.6 GWh of electricity per year. 

In September 2023, Merck inaugurated a solar farm at its manufacturing site in Mollet del Vallès, Spain. It will generate up to 2.8 GWh of green electricity annually. 

Through energy efficiency measures, the reduction of process-related emissions and a higher share of renewable energies, the company reduced its GHG emissions by almost 10% in 2022 compared to 2021. 

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