Belgian materials technology and recycling group Umicore (EBR:UMI) has announced the signing of a decade-long power purchase agreement (PPA) with Gasum to procure renewable electricity for its Finnish facility located in Kokkola.
According to the terms of the agreement, Gasum will provide approximately 35 GWh of certified renewable electricity annually to Umicore until 2035. The power supply will originate from a zero-subsidy wind farm in Finland, which commenced operations in December of last year.
This marks the second renewable PPA between the two companies, following a previous agreement in September 2022, where Gasum committed to supplying Umicore with about 45 GWh of certified renewable electricity per year until 2034.
Geraldine Nolens, Umicore's ESG Executive Vice President, emphasized the significance of securing renewable electricity, stating, “Last year more than 40% of our global electricity needs came from renewable sources and in Europe this was almost 60%. Securing renewable electricity supply reduces the carbon footprint of our materials and secures our sustainable growth.”
Umicore's overarching objective is to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for both its Scope 1 and 2 categories by 2035. The company aims to cut its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 20% from the 2019 baseline by 2025.
In Kokkola, Umicore plays a pivotal role in refining cobalt and manufacturing precursor cathode active materials for electric vehicle batteries.
