The Lenzing Group, a global leader in the production of wood-based specialty fibers, has agreed to supply Enery and Energie Steiermark with electricity in order to fund the construction of a solar facility in the Deutschlandsberg area (Styria). The fiber and pulp facility at the Lenzing site will be powered by the produced electricity once it is operational in the fourth quarter of 2023. The 20-year contract for power delivery is a restriction.

The facility will be capable of producing 5.5 MWpeak. This is equivalent to the typical yearly electricity use of almost 1,700 homes. A number of photovoltaic systems, notably the biggest ground-mounted plant in the province of Upper Austria, are already being erected at the Lenzing site and will soon be put into service.

Stephan Sielaff, CEO of Lenzing Group, said that they intend to depend even more on power produced from renewable sources in the future in order to cut their carbon emissions even further in accordance with their strategic aims. In the medium to long term, ideas like this will lessen their reliance on international energy markets and assist our shift from a linear to a circular economy model, says.

Lenzing is the first fiber producer to announce a goal in 2019 to become climate neutral by 2050 and cut its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. The Science Based Targets Initiative has approved this carbon reduction goal. Lenzing is presently making investments to lower carbon emissions at other sites worldwide. The Lenzing Group only recently declared that moving forward, renewable energy will also be used in its Indonesian location.

Richard König, CEO of Enery, and Lukas Nemec, COO of Enery, said that they’re delighted to have secured one of the first long-term energy supply contracts for their first solar park in the region of Styria with a renowned Austrian industrial enterprise. They are especially glad to make a contribution to ensuring that Austrian industry obtains cheap and sustainable green electricity in order to stay internationally competitive within this unstable market climate.

Members of the Management Board of Energie Steiermark Christian Purrer and Martin Graf believe that the initiative is "the outcome of an effective and trend-setting interaction between energy firms, regional authorities, and industry, with a clear win-win scenario for all parties concerned." It serves as an example of how rapidly green generation projects can be put into action when all parties agree to work together and refrain from making excuses why something cannot be done.