Following a plan to greatly expand solar power generation at one if its facilities, Finland-based poultry and pork company Atria Group has announced its commitment to a global climate initiative.
According to a senior executive of Atria Group, the company has joined almost 1,800 other firms in committing to the international Science Based Targets Climate Initiative (STBi).
“Atria is a pioneer in sustainability in Northern European food production, and our commitment to the initiative gives us a scientific international reference framework for our goals,” said Merja Leino, the group’s executive vice president of sustainability. “Now we can see how Atria's concrete sustainability actions contribute to mitigating climate change.”
The goal of the STBi is to limit the average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5degC above pre-industrial levels, under the Paris Climate Agreement.
For its part, Atria will involve its whole production chain in climate work, said Leino. This will cover three focus areas — planet, product, and people — to reduce climatic impacts and towards greater energy efficiency. Other key elements, she said, are renewable energy solutions, human rights issues, and animal welfare.
According to the organization’s web site, SBTi drives ambitious climate action in the private sector by enabling companies to set science-based emissions reduction targets. It is a partnership between CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
A key role of SBTi is as leader of the "Business Ambition for 1.5°C" campaign, which is described as a call to action from a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders. The campaign's primary aim is to mobilize companies to set net-zero, science-based targets in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Climate action: Atria expands solar power park
Within the past two months, Atria Group has announced plans to expand significantly its existing solar park, which is already the largest in Finland.
Commissioned in 2018 as part of the company’s poultry processing plant at Nurmo, power generation by the installation is to be increased to 5 Mega Watt peak. According to the firm, the annual 4,250 Mega Watt hours of electricity generated is equivalent to the power consumption of more than 2,000 apartment buildings. For the Group, the solar park will supply around 8% of its annual electricity requirement.
The increase in output will be achieved by around 9,400 solar panels on an area of almost 7 hectares (17 acres). In part, these will replace around 22,000 smaller and less efficient panels currently on the site.
Work was scheduled to start back in the summer, and to be complete next year.
Implementing the investment and responsible for maintenance of the installation is Nurmon Aurinko Oy. The Group’s Finnish operation — Atria Suomi Oy — and Solarigo Systems Oy are jointly managing the project.
More on Atria
In June of this year, Atria reported that improvements in the business climate were positively impacting profitability. Key drivers were a return to pre-pandemic demand, and growing profits from exports.
Previously, Atria announced it was restructuring its production in Sweden. Plans involved closure of its facility in Malmö, and investment in another plant of EUR30 million.
According to WATTPoultry.com’s Top Poultry Companies database, the Group slaughtered 43 million birds in 2019.
Atria Group is among the leading meat producers in Nordic countries, with operations in both the poultry and pork sectors. Based in Finland, it also has operations in Denmark, Estonia, and Sweden.
Earlier this year, Atria sold its Pit-Product operation in Russia to the Cherkizovo Group.
