Etex Australia celebrated the installation of another solar array at their Matraville plant in NSW earlier this year. This achievement follows the completion of a similar large solar installation at its Altona plant in Victoria in 2023.
Etex Australia is the manufacturer of Siniat plasterboard and metal products.
The Matraville installation consists of 1924 solar panels on the roof space, and is expected to generate at least 15% of the site’s electricity requirement. Switching to solar allows the factory to reduce its CO2-e emissions by approximately 727 t, or 1.2% of the national operations emissions (gate-to-gate).
This latest solar project builds on the work already done at Altona, where the rooftop installation has generated 19.4% of the electricity demand over the past year. The 1.45 MW system at Altona includes more than 3,000 solar panels.
The Matraville and Altona factories are two of Etex Australia’s four plasterboard manufacturing plants. Plasterboard products are also produced in factories located in Hazelmere (WA) and Bundaberg (QLD).
The completion of the Matraville solar installation was celebrated with a “Flick the Switch” event where the new system was officially turned on. All teammates at the plant were invited to the event, which coincided with a visit from Jochen Friedrichs, Head of Etex’s Division Building Performance.
Jochen was on visit to Australia together with several other Etex leaders from overseas. The delegation enjoyed a tour of the plasterboard plant before joining all the Matraville teammates for the event.
In his speech Jochen said that the Matraville solar array was the 12th solar installation at Etex factories worldwide. He referred to the ambitious targets the company has set for decarbonisation, which is an important pillar of the Etex Road to Sustainability 2030 roadmap.
Globally Etex has set a target to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions intensity (CO2e emissions of Scopes 1 and 2) by 35% by 2030, compared to a 2018 baseline. The aim is to secure 100% certified renewable electricity for all Etex plants by 2030. Etex is making good progress in this regard, with the current status sitting at 60.9%.
Solar energy forms a major part of Etex’s energy strategy. Globally there will be further investment in solar installations in 2024, and the aim is to double this capacity in three years’ time.
Jochen also said plasterboard is a very sustainability building material already, and the switch to renewable energy in the production process lowers its embodied carbon even further.
