Gas and engineering company BOC, a subsidiary of Linde plc, has announced a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with energy from waste facility Avertas Energy and Shell Energy, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 16 per cent.
The PPA will enable BOC to support decarbonisation of Australia’s largest food and beverage manufacturers and other industrial customers. BOC has purchased enough certificates to supply the food and beverage sector with carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen, produced with 100 per cent renewable electricity from 2023.
Under the 5-year agreement with Avertas Energy, BOC will purchase large-scale generation certificates from the Kwinana-based energy from waste facility, starting 1 January 2023.
Under the energy retail agreement with Shell Energy, BOC will start receiving electricity for its Kwinana and Canningvale sites from mid-2022.
This is a step towards achieving BOC’s sustainability goals, which are to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 35 per cent by 2028 and support long-term decarbonisation across its customer base, BOC South Pacific managing director John Evans said.
“BOC is proud to be partnering with Avertas Energy and Shell Energy on this significant power purchase agreement, that reduces BOC’s greenhouse gas emissions by 16 per cent and supports the development of a world-leading energy from waste facility,” Evans said.
“We look forward to offering our customers the opportunity to decarbonise their operations, with carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen a critical product for many food and beverage applications including modified atmosphere packaging, cryogenic freezing and carbonating drinks.
“BOC is committed to increasing our renewable energy sourcing from solar, biomass or biogas and wind projects across the country, and actively exploring more opportunities on the east-coast of Australia,” he said.
Avertas Energy is an Australian-first facility that will use municipal solid waste to produce electricity. It will divert 400,000 tonnes per annum of waste from landfill and deliver circa 38MW of reliable baseload energy.
“We are pleased to be able to support BOC on its decarbonisation journey,” Avertas Energy CEO Frank Smith said.
Shell Energy Australia is also proud to support BOC’s sustainability goals and assist the decarbonisation of Australia’s food manufacturing sector, Shell Energy Australia CEO Greg Joiner said.
“Designing and delivering products and services that help large energy users decarbonise is a key focus for us, as we assemble the building blocks of a cleaner energy system in Australia,” Joiner said.
BOC made a similar agreement with the New Zealand Environmental Certificate Scheme and Kea Energy solar farm, to allow BOC to provide green hydrogen to its New Zealand customers, including NZ Steel.