With the commissioning of the Solar farm, Indumil hopes to reduce the carbon footprint by 600 tons of CO2 annually.
The Solar farm will serve to supply the energy demand of the factory's operations for the next 30 years.
It is the first of three projects to be implemented at the General José María Córdova factory in Soacha and the Antonio Ricaurte Explosives factory in Sibaté.
At the Santa Bárbara metalworking products plant of Indumil, a company affiliated to the Defense Social and Business Group, GSED, the first Solar farm was inaugurated that will mitigate the impact and carbon footprint in the productive processes carried out in Sogamoso, Boyacá department.
The Solar farm that works by means of a photovoltaic electric energy self-generation system, is made of 2,178 solar panels, distributed in 24 tables, in an area of 6,165 m2, with 5 inverters of 95% efficiency, and injection capacity of 1 megawatt.
The event, which was chaired by the vice Minister of Veterans and the GSED, Ana Catalina Cano and by the president of Indumil, General Ricardo Gómez, had the presence of the mayor of Sogamoso, businessmen and regional authorities.
Inauguration of the solar farm
In her speech, Deputy Minister Cano said that this in project is innovative and sustainable: “A project aimed at hope in the global fight against climate change, in a world where environmental challenges are increasingly pressing; it represents a collective victory in the search for sustainable solutions; a step forward in reducing our carbon footprint and for a greener future for the new generations.”
The Solar farm started its operation on March 9, during which time 480 megawatts per hour have been generated and has led to the mitigation of 242 tons of CO2, the equivalent of planting 11 thousand adult trees – 7 years old–.
The project contributes to the socio-environmental responsibility for the generation of photovoltaic energy, framed in the development and implementation of the Colombia Carbon Neutral strategy (ECCN), led by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, which promotes climate empowerment, contributing to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and to carbon neutrality in Colombia by 2050.
The Santa Bárbara Factory, which is specialized in metallurgy and metalworking of Indumil, will prevent, with the start-up of the Park, the emission of 600 tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere annually, a figure similar to the planting of a forest of 22,600 adult trees.
“With the power generation capacity of 1 GWh/year, it will supply the factory's energy needs and save more than 45% on energy consumption.
In addition, its storage systems will keep energy to be distributed constantly even during sunless hours," said the deputy minister.
The start–up of this Solar farm not only represents to Indumil savings in operating expenses, but in the same way makes it a company with socio-environmental responsibility and leads it to access tax benefits of Law 1715, so, the investment return will be in less than 3 years, opening an important path towards achieving carbon neutral.
The Deputy Minister of Defense in the same way told the attendees that there is not only a thing of clean energy, but in the same way of concrete opportunities for this region. “This project contributed to the generation of local jobs that promote economic growth. In addition, this Solar farm will serve as a reference by providing a practical vision of green and sustainable technology.”
In his turn, the president of Indumil informed that the Solar farm had an investment of more than $4 billion, and that “it will undoubtedly bring progress and sustainability. It is the result of the efforts of many people who worked to make it a reality today.”
Finally, the farm, based on the technology of solar panels, will be in operation in a life cycle of up to 30 years, when its efficiency will decrease below 80%.
Source: Defense Sector Communications Office - Ministry of National Defense
