Ingevity Corp. (North Charleston, S.C.; www.ingevity.com) announced that it will install a photovoltaic solar panel system at its pine chemicals plant in North Charleston, South Carolina. Once the installation is complete, the company will be participating in South Carolina Electric & Gas’s customer-scale solar generation program, which will allow Ingevity to offset part of their electric usage at the facility.
“This is a tangible example of Ingevity’s commitment to sustainability and our mission to purify, protect and enhance the world around us,” said Michael Wilson, Ingevity president and CEO. “We have achieved significant energy savings over the past several years through conservation efforts and efficiency upgrades. SCE&G’s solar program for businesses provides an appealing opportunity to reinvest those savings into a renewable and more sustainable energy infrastructure while simultaneously diversifying our electricity sources.”
The early stages of the installation are currently underway, with North Carolina-based Strata Solar Commercial providing engineering, procurement and construction services. “We’re excited to partner with Ingevity to help bring more renewable energy into their portfolio,” said Henry Dziuba, Strata’s chief revenue officer. “Strata is thrilled to be able to bring our vast experience in utility scale applications to the commercial environment and help more organizations like Ingevity meet their sustainability goals.”
Construction on the solar panel system is expected to be completed and operational by the end of the first quarter in 2018. It will consist of approximately 1,476 solar modules, and will produce approximately 723,000 kilowatt hours of energy in its first year of operation, offsetting the equivalent of 1.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide on an annual basis.
Solar power is increasingly being used as an energy source for chemical processing sites. Total recently started up a photovoltaic power system at its La Mede petroelum refinery in France.