Microgrid Helps Schneider Electric Achieve Zero CO2 Factory Status at Barcelona Plant

Schneider Electric announced it has achieved Zero CO2 Factory status at its Molins de Rei plant in Barcelona, Spain, thanks in part to a new microgrid.

The grid-tied microgrid was developed in partnership with Iberdola Spain, a subsidiary of multinational electric utility Iberdola. It includes 990 solar panels, five electric vehicle charging points and a 216 kWh battery energy storage system.

The solar panels are capable of producing 670 MWh of green electricity each year, about a tenth of the plant’s total consumption.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Microgrid Operation and Microgrid Advisor software will be used to manage the microgrid.

The Molins de Rei plant produces Schneider’s PanelSet PLM, a polyester enclosure made with recycled content, 37% of which is fully recycled. It is the first such cabinet of its kind, according to the company.

The plant manufactures other polyester enclosures as well, and is home to a showroom and innovation hub focused on driving innovation in the industry and electrical energy management.

“The project we have launched at our Molins de Rei plant not only reinforces Schneider Electric's commitment to sustainability but also demonstrates that it is possible and profitable to transform the industry by combining electrification and digitalization. Most importantly, it is a replicable and scalable model that can be applied to any factory looking to move towards a more decarbonized and resilient model,” said Josu Ugarte, president of Schneider Electric in the Iberian region.

Microgrid-as-a-Service lowers energy costs, helps companies decarbonize

Iberdola Spain will own and operate the microgrid under a 20-year power purchase agreement as part of its new microgrid-as-a-service (MaaS) offering. The MaaS concept is designed to use energy management software and distributed energy resources (DER), such as solar and battery storage, to help customers decarbonize operations and reduce energy costs.

“This microgrid project is an example of how electrification will allow a company to be more economically competitive, more sustainable, and have a more resilient facility by combining self-consumption, battery storage and energy management in a single project,” said Andrés Carasso, institutional delegate of Iberdrola Spain in Catalonia.

Schneider has a similar microgrid at its Puente la Reina factory, also in Spain, which is operated under a MaaS agreement with renewable energy utility ACCIONA Energía.

Microgrid project funded by the EU

Funding for the Molins de Rei microgrid was provided by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDEA) and the European Union’s NextGenerationEU Recovery and Resiliency Facility (RRF).

Through the RRF, NextGenerationEU is investing in green energy, digital transformation efforts, and health, social and economic resilience.

Microgrid, energy efficiency and emissions reductions

To achieve Zero CO2 Factory status, a plant must meet 100% of its emissions reduction targets.

Schneider Electric has been working to significantly reduce emissions from its Barcelona factory since 2017, when it instituted a number of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction initiatives, including the installation of a new electric boiler.

The plant has reduced its CO2 emissions by 2,250 metric tons annually, enabling it to achieve zero emissions in Scopes 1 and 2, according to a statement.

Scope 1 emissions are from sources directly owned or controlled by an organization, such as the on-site burning of fossil fuels in boilers or industrial processes. Scope 2 are indirect emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling.

More than financial and environmental benefits

Beyond the benefits of lower energy costs and emissions, Schneider Electric will benefit from the resilience provided by a microgrid.

One of the key features of a microgrid is that it can “island” or disconnect from the power grid during an outage. The on-site resources, including solar, batteries storage and even bidirectional EV chargers, are used to power critical operations, as was witnessed in April when  a devastating grid blackout swept across Spain and Portugal in April.

Millions across the Iberian Peninsula were without power for hours, yet a handful of critical facilities remained operational because of the resilience provided by an on-site microgrid.