Lego greening up with wind and solar power | Image : Lego Group
Lego Group has announced it has reached its 100% renewable energy target set in 2013 well ahead of schedule.
The goal was attained with the official opening of the Burbo Bank Extension wind farm, situated off the coast of Liverpool, UK, in which Lego Group has a 25% stake.
The 258 megawatt facility consists of 32 MHI Vestas V164-8.0 MW wind turbines and generates enough power to supply 230,000 British households.
“We work to leave a positive impact on the planet and I am truly excited about the inauguration of the Burbo Bank Extension wind farm,” said Bali Padda, CEO of the LEGO Group.
” This development means we have now reached the 100% renewable energy milestone three years ahead of target.”
As a tribute to the record 200 metre tall wind turbines constructed at the Burbo Bank Extension facility and to raise awareness of renewables, the company has assembled the world’s largest Lego wind turbine; which stands 7.5 metres tall and consists of 146,000 Lego bricks.
The company says electricity produced in connection with Lego’s renewables project investments now exceeds the energy consumed at all its factories, stores and offices around the world; which in in 2016 was more than 360 gigawatt hours.
As well as the Burbo Bank Extension, KIRKBI A/S (parent company of the Lego Group) has a 31.5% stake in the 312MW Borkum Riffgrund 1 offshore wind farm in Germany. Comprised of seventy-eight 4MW wind turbines, that facility produces enough electricity to supply 320,000 German households.
Solar power also gets a look in at Lego, with 20,000 solar panels to be installed on the roof of its factory in Jiaxing, China. The solar PV installation will generate six gigawatt hours of clean electricity annually; enough to provide for the power needs of more than 6,000 Chinese households. The solar modules will supply approximately 7% of the factory’s energy needs.
Lego has also included solar power technology in some of its products, including the Lego solar panel and its Renewable Energy Add-On set.
The company says that over the past three years it has improved its energy efficiency by 16 per cent per Lego brick produced. This isn’t just good for the planet, but also the company’s bottom line. Lego produces around 75 billion of its bricks a year.
The company is also researching other ways to reduce the environmental impact of its products. In 2015, Lego announced a mission to find and implement sustainable alternatives to its current petrochemical based materials by 2030.
About Michael Bloch
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This is just awsome. It’s important to celebrate Lego Group efforts. Companies like these tends to do whatever they want, forgetting the environment and people health. Not this time: Good job Lego!