The 12th solar project for GlaxoSmithKline puts the company on track to meet its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2025.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare and Ameresco, Inc., a leading cleantech integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, announced the completion of a solar installation in Oak Hill, New York.
GSK Consumer Healthcare has a manufacturing facility in Oak Hill, nestled in the Catskills in Upstate New York. There the company produces some of GSK Consumer Healthcare’s oral health brands including Sensodyne, Pronamel, and Parodontax for the US and Canadian markets.
The solar installation comprises over 17,000 modules with an estimated electricity generation capacity of 6.9 MW DC. It is estimated that the plant will generate electricity equivalent to more than 70% of the Oak Hill site’s annual usage and reduce its carbon footprint by 60%
“The completion of this project marks a pivotal moment for us at GSK Consumer Healthcare, as a continued step in the right direction for enacting real change that reduces our environmental impact and helps us deliver on our larger sustainability initiatives,” said Mike Allen, Sustainability Lead Consumer Health Supply Chain, GSK Consumer Healthcare.
The Oak Hill site is the 12th solar investment project for GSK and its Consumer Healthcare business. Allen noted that the company plans to implement additional major solar and wind energy investments in the UK and US to set to set the company on track for 100% renewable electricity by 2025.
GSK Consumer Healthcare is the designated off-taker of the clean energy generated at the solar site, and is part of the company’s larger ongoing commitment to its sustainability goals of reducing its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 100% by 2030.
“In order to form a more sustainable world, we need to work collaboratively with major corporations to implement energy-efficient solutions. I’m so thankful that we were able to work with an organization like GSK Consumer Healthcare, that has set forth aggressive goals for its future and truly understands the need to implement renewable technologies at a grand scale,” said Pete Christakis, Senior Vice President, Ameresco.
Another project that Ameresco has under construction on the other side of the country is at the US Coast Guard Petaluma training center. A 5 MW solar, 11.6 MWh energy storage microgrid is part of its $43 million contract that includes energy efficiency and management systems, and planned improvements such as the deployment of new power distribution transformers, smart controls in 10 buildings across campus, LED lighting improvements, installation of new electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and HVAC upgrades. The US Coast Guard project is expected to be complete in the fall of 2023.
