Novo Nordisk signs agreement on CO2 reduction
Novo Nordisk is committed to reducing its energy consumption, and a major part of the company’s future electricity consumption in Denmark will be supplied by wind turbines; the Danish energy company DONG Energy will help Novo Nordisk realise the target. That is the essence of a unique partnership agreement signed May 1st 2007 by the two companies.
Under the partnership, which is the first of its kind, Novo Nordisk pledges until 2020 to convert all energy savings realised at its Danish production sites into the purchase of green electricity for its production sites. The energy will be supplied from a new wind farm that DONG Energy is establishing at Horns Rev in Danish coastal waters.
“With this agreement Novo Nordisk will make a significant contribution towards realising the Horns Rev II offshore wind farm and will help build the market for renewable energy in Denmark,” says Lars Clausen, executive vice president of DONG Energy.
The agreement will contribute significantly to Novo Nordisk’s target of reducing its CO2 emissions by 10% below 2004 levels by 2014 – an extremely ambitious target, given the company’s projected significant growth in production.
DONG Energy’s experts will help identify energy savings options at Novo Nordisk’s Danish production sites, which represent 90% of the company’s total CO2 emissions. The aim is for all the company’s Danish production sites to convert their total consumption of electricity to renewable energy by 2014.
DONG Energy hopes that the partnership will become an engine for a higher degree of conversion to renewable energy supplies among other Danish companies.
“We are confident that DONG Energy can help us achieve significant energy savings. At the same time, through this partnership agreement, we contribute to generating a financially sustainable basis for wind turbine energy in Denmark,” says Lise Kingo, executive vice president and chief of staffs, Novo Nordisk.
Novo Nordisk’s CO2 reduction target is the result of an agreement signed with WWF in 2006 as part of the Climate Savers programme. The programme currently comprises 12 global companies that have committed themselves to taking active steps to consume less energy and shift towards renewable energy.
