News Article
Conergy PV plant on Spanish cheese factory roof
Conergy is helping to produce "green" traditional cheese in Spain. With the 200 kilowatt plant on the 16,145.87 square feet of roof space of the cheese factory and farm Finca "Pago Los Vivales" in Coreses in the province of Zamora in Castile and León, the sheep cheese producer "Baltasar Moralejo e Hijos" will be producing clean solar electricity besides its award-winning milk products in the future.
Some 800 Conergy "P-series" modules will be producing around 300,000 kilowatt hours of clean electricity each year on top of the factory buildings. That corresponds roughly to 55% of the cheese producer's electricity consumption for the manufacture of its award-winning raw milk and hard cheese products. At the same time, the installation avoids the emission of approximately 220 tons of CO2 per year. This corresponds to 3,100 cheese trucks driving the 62 miles between Coreses and Valladolid, the capital of Castile and León.
There are some 3,000 sheep being raised on the farm with an area of two acres. The cheese producer grows the grain for the herd itself complying with strict production standards and is thus able to control the quality of the animals' feed, health and milk. The sheep cheese produced from the milk has already won several awards for its intense flavour and high quality. In addition to the highly respected "World Cheese Award", which the company received for different cheeses in 2012 and 2010, the producer also won the "Botiguero de Oro" award in 2010 and the "Cincho de Plata" award in 2008.
"An ever increasing number of companies are committing themselves to high ecological standards and responsible action. Solar energy generation is an obvious choice in Spain, particularly as grid parity has already been achieved in many cases, which means that solar power is cheaper than power from the grid," said Luis Jiménez Gutierrez, Managing Director of Conergy Spain. "Baltasar Moralejo e Hijos is aiming for environmental friendliness and high quality throughout its operation. We are pleased to have been able to support the company's sustainability strategy with our knowhow and the quality of the Conergy solar plant on the cheese factory roof."
"Our production process is based on a strict quality management of all steps. It starts with the organic feed of our animals and their well-being but also includes the control of the milk as the raw material of our products and its processing to a high-quality cheese with its refined taste", said the brothers Moralejo Gonzalez, Managers of Baltasar Moralejo e Hijos. "The solar system on our facilities helps us to protect the environment. Conergy has supported us here by providing us with a high-quality solution that guarantees both, our financial as well as sustainable goals."
