To help achieve its goal of decarbonizing its operations by 2030, Danfoss North America announced May 2 that it’s agreed to buy about 75 megawatts of solar power starting in 2025 from a solar farm that CIG Capital Advisors is building in the Texas panhandle. Groundbreaking on the six-square-mile solar farm is scheduled for November of 2023, with the farm becoming fully operational by spring 2025. The solar farm’s capacity is projected to be 509 MW, of which Danfoss will utilize 15%.
The initial agreement term is for 12 years, allowing Danfoss to fully replace its annual electricity usage in North America with green energy through at least 2037. The agreement will also give Danfoss with green certificates, signifying that it’s supplying North America’s electricity grid with the full amount of green electricity needed to power its 24 factories and 36 other locations in North America, and will reduce Danfoss’ carbon footprint in the region by 75%.
“As part of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, Danfoss has committed to achieving carbon neutrality across our global operations by 2030,” says Soren Revsbech Dam, head of ESG and decarbonization in Danfoss’ global services real estate division. “This agreement to secure green energy for our North America operations will reduce our global emissions by 21%. This is not only a significant step in our journey to becoming carbon neutral, but it also demonstrates we’re serious about putting sustainability at the heart of our business.”
Next on Danfoss’ decarbonization journey will be reducing and reusing energy across its North America locations, and employing various Danfoss technologies, such as oil-free, variable-speed compressors and other heating and cooling solutions that support heat recovery and energy efficiency. “Danfoss is committed to playing a leading role in the energy transition,” says Rick Sporrer, president of Danfoss North America. “Meeting our ESG goals and living up to our commitment to combat climate change means developing innovative solutions.”
Likewise, as part of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Danfoss is committed to become carbon neutral in its global operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2030, and says it will reduce its value chain emissions (Scope 3) with 15% by 2030. This commitment is included in the targets of Danfoss’ three step-change initiatives on decarbonization, circularity, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
In fact, Danfoss has already progressed in decoupling environmental impact from business growth by delivering 7% decrease in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, while growing 15% organically in 2022. Also, Danfoss’ 250,000 square-meter headquarters in Denmark became carbon neutral in 2022. Carbon neutrality was achieved through energy saving projects, utilization excess heat from processes and data centers, sourcing green energy, and offsetting residual emissions.
