22 Jun 2022 WORLD’S LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SOLAR THERMAL COOLING PLANT INVESTMENT IN İZMİR BY MM-GROUP AND SOLITERM
Mayr-Melnhof Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carton board, installed the world’s largest industrial solar thermal cooling plant to supply energy to its production facility in Tire Organized Industrial Zone, in cooperation with Soliterm Group. The system installed on the roof of the production facility consists of parabolic trough collectors with an aperture area of 4,500 m² and a thermal output of more than 3 MW (Peak 3.5 MW).
Mayr-Melnhof Group is a multinational company and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carton board, fine and kraft paper, and with MM-Packaging also of folding cartons. Based in Vienna Austria, the MM Karton AG runs 52 production sites in 22 countries and employs over 12.000 employees. The company not only sets high economical standards but also aims for sustainable and efficient production with recyclable and biodegradable carton board packaging to commit to net zero emissions as part of the Business Ambition for 1.5 Celcius degree. MM Graphia production facility of the Company, located in Tire Organized Industrial Zone, is specialized in the packaging in gravure and offset printing as well as in manufacturing innovative and high-finish folding cartons.
Soliterm Group designs, manufactures, installs and maintains industrial-grade turnkey high and medium-temperature solar-powered energy systems for cooling, processing steam, heating, electricity generation and desalination based on its proprietary parabolic trough collector (PTC) technology. Established in 1999 Soliterm Group has been at the heart of many groundbreaking projects, products, and portfolios for close to two decades, assisting project developers, investors, manufacturers, research houses, and other consulting companies. Soliterm as a Germany-based company delivers the engineering know-how and ensures high-quality standards for materials being used in the production process of the Parabolic Through solar collectors. Providing planning and environmental, analysis, construction and geotechnical, operations and asset management, and due diligence services, Soliterm Group is a full life-cycle consultancy – from feasibility to financing and every project phase in between.
The processes of heating and cooling, as well as the air conditioning and heating required for the buildings and manufacturing processes of MM Groups Tire plant, were generated entirely by gas and electricity, which not only led to volatile costs due to the purchase of fossil fuels but also to high CO2 emissions. In order to guarantee continuous supply and cost security and to sustainably reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Soliterm Group planned and installed a solar thermal system to supply energy to the production facility. The system installed on the roof of the production facility consists of parabolic trough collectors with an aperture area of 4,500 m² and a thermal output of more than 3 MW (Peak 3.5 MW), as well as a thermal storage system that ensures energy supply beyond the hours of sunshine. The unique feature of concentrated solar thermal power is that the high-temperature level allows for the efficient operation of a two-stage absorption chiller. As a result, the solar thermal system is able to meet 80% of the cooling process, the air conditioning, as well as hot water demands, and drastically, reduces the fossil fuel consumption, resulting in savings of more than 3,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
The project is a trailblazer in industrial renewable energy supply and can immensely advance the decarbonization of industry through its flexible adaptation to different energy needs, thus enabling sustainable business.
The project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Program of the German Energy Solutions Initiative. We would therefore be very pleased to welcome you at the inauguration ceremony of this pioneering solar thermal cooling plant in Izmir-Tire.
