Atria - Solarigo reference story

SUNSHINE

Atria reduces their carbon footprint created in food production with the help of solar power.

INTO FOOD

ATRIA

In the Atria Sun energy flagship project, Solarigo built a sizeable, 5.9 megawatt solar power park. As a flagship energy project, Atria Sun piloted various solar energy solutions, and it was Finland's largest and at the same time the country’s first large-scale solar park.

22 000

SOLAR PANELS

5.9

POWER

36 000

SURFACE M2

Solarigo for Finland's largest solar power plant

Atria Oyj is a Finnish food company.

The Atria Group is divided into four business areas: Atria Finland, Atria Scandinavia, Atria Russia and Atria Baltics. Atria's customer groups include grocery stores, Food Service customers and the food industry. In addition, it has an own-brand Fast Food concept business. Atria's roots go back to 1903, when its oldest owner co-operative was founded. Atria Oyj's shares are now listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.

www.atria.fi

ENERGY FLAGSHIP PROJECT

During the Atria Sun energy flagship project in 2017-2019, Finland's first large and significant industrial-scale solar power park was built at the Nurmo factory of the food industry operator Atria Suomi Oy. The project achieved Finland's largest 5.9 MW solar power park, which consists of a total of 11 separate and independent power plants, and produces fully renewable and domestic solar electricity locally. Emission-free solar energy replaces approximately 5% of the factory’s annual electricity consumption.

In addition to the solar power plant, a significant 1 MWh electricity storage was also integrated into the factory's power grid to improve the quality of the factory's energy and to help balance the supply and demand fluctuations of the electricity system. A smart factory network was also constructed as part of the project, thanks to which the factory invested in energy-saving technology in a total of 19 different areas of the factory. A smart factory network improves energy efficiency and extends the lifespan of equipment. The project received energy spearhead initiative funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

SERVICE CONCEPT

What made the project unique in Finland was the fact that it was implemented with a new solar energy contract and a smart energy service concept, where the end customer is basically not required to use their own investments or resources. This frees up the end customer's financial resources to develop their core business. Atria Suomi Oy buys all the produced solar energy for the factory's own use with a long-term contract.

Nurmon Aurinko Oy was responsible for the project's planning and investments, as well as the delivery of solar energy and smart grid services during production at Atria's Nurmo factories. No project of this size has been implemented with a similar service concept in Finland. The solar energy contract and service concept can be fully duplicated, regionally expanded and exported to international markets.

The project has been unique for us in terms of its sheer size and is an excellent example of how to increase renewable energy and improve energy efficiency in an industrial environment. The project also meets Atria's corporate responsibility objectives by reducing our carbon footprint through concrete actions.