In 2030, 100 years of the birth of the former Cementos Minetti will be celebrated, since 1998 owned by the Lafarge-Holcim Group, the company that from Córdoba managed to position itself as one of the leaders in the provision of construction materials in the country.
To that date, Holcim Argentina has set goals aligned with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations Organization (UN): that one third of its turnover comes from sustainable solutions, reduce emissions by 40 percent carbon dioxide and reduce water consumption by 30 percent, among others.
Yesterday, the company took a step towards that horizon: it announced the signing of a contract with YPF Luz (a company made up of YPF, with 75 percent of the shares, and General Electric, with the remaining 25 percent), for the which will replace 35 percent of its consumption of electricity of conventional origin with that generated with wind turbines.
The agreement was announced by the leaders of both companies, Carlos Espina (Holcim) and Martín Mandarano (YPF Luz), at the Holcim plant located in Campana, Buenos Aires. The president of YPF, Miguel Gutiérrez, and the director of finance of Holcim, Gabriela Mosquera, also participated.
“It is a satisfaction to present this agreement. It is a sign of Holcim’s commitment to sustainability and the environment, ”said Espina. The contract, which took more than 12 months of negotiations, is 10 years.
Specifically, Holcim will demand 142 thousand megawatts hour per year, equivalent to an installed capacity of 30 megawatts that YPF Luz will provide from the Los Teros wind farm, which it is building in Azul (Buenos Aires) and that will begin to deliver power to the Argentine System of Interconnection (Sadi) in February 2020.
Impact
According to Espina, 1.2 million tons of cement are manufactured with this amount of energy. “It’s more than a third of what Holcim produces; it is enough to build 105 thousand homes and three thousand kilometers of two-lane routes, ”he compared. It also represents the average consumption of 36 thousand homes. In environmental terms, according to Holcim, changing the origin of this amount of energy – from hydrocarbons to a renewable source – amounts to saving 13 million liters of diesel and 21 million cubic meters of natural gas. That reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 63 thousand tons.
An important aspect to keep in mind is that the plants of Córdoba de Holcim will be the ones that demand the most renewable energy, since they are the ones that produce the most in the country. About 40 percent of Holcim’s cement, concrete and stone manufacturing is done in Córdoba, while the rest is divided between Buenos Aires, Jujuy and Mendoza.
Another important fact: it is the first company with a plant in Córdoba that signs a contract with YPF Luz to supply this type of energy. Until now, the agreements of the energy company were, among others, with YPF, Toyota, Profertil, Coca-Cola and Nestlé.
In addition, by covering more than a third of its energy demand with a renewable source, Holcim overcomes the Renewable Energy Law, which states that eight percent of the demand of large consumers must come from renewable sources, an obligation that will grow to 20 per hundred in 2025.
Construction of the Los Teros wind farm in Azul
200 million dollars. That is the disbursement that YPF Luz makes in the wind farm, which will have more than 40 generators capable of providing an installed capacity of 175 megawatts. It will be enabled in the first two months of 2020, said Martin Mandarano, the company’s CEO.
