Environmentally declared hydropower energises Proton Group
Since 2008, Proton Group’s electricity has been fossil-free and now the entire company group is taking a step further in its sustainability work. From 1 October 2020, all electricity purchased for Proton Group will be environmentally declared according to the international EPD® system. One hundred per cent of the electricity purchased comes from hydropower.
A conscious effort for Proton Group has for a long time been to achieve electricity supply with fossil-free energy sources throughout the group – while actively working to reduce each company’s energy consumption. The joint effort has resulted in all electricity purchased for the group since 2008 being fossil-free. Since 2018, the companies’ natural gas consumption has also been replaced by biogas.
– We are well placed to find good energy solutions in Sweden,’ says David Gustafsson, CEO of Proton Group. Swedish companies are interested in buying electricity from renewable energy sources, and there is a good supply on the market.
Towards a sustainable future
The entire group is now taking its sustainability efforts a step further. From 1 October 2020, all electricity purchased for Proton Group will be environmentally declared according to the international EPD® system. For Proton, this means that one hundred per cent of the electricity purchased comes from hydropower. The supplier is Vattenfall.
– Every four years, we conduct an energy audit of Proton’s operations and we endeavour to influence energy consumption at the units where it makes the most difference,’ says Inge Fransson, who has worked on the energy agreement at Proton Group. ‘The energy audit – together with our active choice to buy environmentally declared electricity – helps us move towards a more sustainable future.
With a common sustainability strategy for all companies, Proton Group continues to actively work towards a long-term and sustainable business. Buying environmentally certified electricity from 100 per cent hydropower is an important step in the right direction.
Environmentally declared electricity from Vattenfall
Vattenfall was the first company in the world to have an environmental declaration certified according to the EPD system, Environmental Product Declaration. At that time it was for electricity from the Luleå River in Norrland. Today, Vattenfall has environmental declarations for its entire hydropower portfolio, as well as for electricity from wind power and nuclear power.
Vattenfall’s Environmental Product Declarations are based on the International EPD system, which is a system for objectively describing the environmental characteristics of goods and services in a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective. The system is administered by EPD International Ltd, a subsidiary of the Swedish IVL.
An EPD provides information on resource consumption, emissions, waste, recycling and land use for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. It does not offer a valuation of environmental impact or greening, but it does make it possible to compare the environmental performance of different products from a life-cycle perspective – ‘from cradle to grave’.
Extract from ‘Environmental Declaration EPD Hydropower:
This EPD® has been certified within Vattenfall’s EPD management process. The independent reviewers confirm that the product fulfils relevant process and product related laws and regulations. The independent review also certifies that this EPD® follows and complies with all rules and requirements of the EPD® system, under the guidance of the International EPD® Consortium (IEC). Relevant rules and requirements are described in the General Programme Instructions (GPI), version 2.5 dated 11/05/2015 and Product Category Rules, CPC 171 Electrical Energy, version 3.0. Vattenfall’s EPD management process is third party audited annually. The accredited body Bureau Veritas Certification verifies fulfilment of the requirements described in the GPI, including the requirements for Process Certification (PCC) for the International EPD® system. The accreditation has been carried out by SWEDAC (Swedish Board for Accreditation and Technical Control).