- Reduced energy costs and less dependence on the electricity grid.
- Clean energy production: 670 MWh/year, which corresponds to 36% of energy needs
- Reduction of CO2 emissions by 314 tons/year and decarbonization of its activity
- Appreciation of real estate assets.
In partnership with Helexia, Alliance Healthcare has just installed two self-consumption photovoltaic plants at its facilities in Alverca and Almancil.
In Alverca, the plant has an installed capacity of 400kWp, produces 600 MWh of solar energy per year for self-consumption, and will contribute to a greener operation by reducing 281 tons of CO2 per year.
In Almancil, the 41 kWp photovoltaic plant produces 70 MWh of clean energy per year and will prevent the emission of 33 tons of CO2 annually.
By using clean energy for self-consumption, Alliance Healthcare reduces energy costs and contributes to the decarbonization of its activity.
To ensure that energy production is optimized and solar production ratios are met, a 10-year monitoring and maintenance contract has been signed with Helexia.
Alliance Healthcare with clean energy
Alliance Healthcare is the only pharmaceutical distributor with a nationwide presence, guaranteeing more than 2,200 daily deliveries throughout the country and handling almost 100 million packages a year.
This storage and subsequent distribution operation requires a lot of energy, since most of the processes are automated and the environment is air-conditioned to a regular temperature throughout the year of between 20°C and 22°C, with relative humidity below 60%.
"Betting on solar self-consumption with Helexia was a natural evolution. We work every day to minimize our impact on the environment and, by using renewable energy, we have managed to reduce our ecological footprint and, at the same time, our energy costs." - Says Ana Folgosa, "Director of Human Resources, Certification and Quality" at Alliance Healthcare Portugal.
"Several companies, such as Alliance Healthcare, are already taking this decarbonization route, setting an example of commitment to sustainability, while at the same time becoming more competitive. Energy costs in this sector are very important to ensure profitability, so being able to have significant savings and predictability in these costs is crucial to promoting competitiveness." - says João Guerra, Marketing and Communications Director at Helexia Portugal.
Decarbonizing the pharmaceutical sector
Portugal has made a commitment to the energy transition towards carbon neutrality with the Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality 2050 (RNC2050) and the PNEC2030. With ambitious but achievable targets, it seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and consolidate a competitive, resilient and low-carbon economy.
One of these targets is to achieve 47% of energy from renewable sources by 2030, taking advantage of the country's high solar energy potential, which has around 300 days of sunshine a year.
The pharmaceutical sector, like many other industries, has a significant role to play in these decarbonization efforts to combat climate change and help build a low-carbon economy.
This sector has several opportunities in the energy transition: producing clean energy for self-consumption, implementing energy efficiency measures and even migrating the fleet to electric vehicles are all paths that the pharmaceutical sector can take.