News

Powering Chaudfontaine with green energy

Chaudfontaine

07/07/2016

Action on Climate, Innovation, Investors |

As well as being bottled at our Chaudfontaine site, water is now helping us to power the entire factory. To support our aim to make better use of green energy, our team in Belgium decided to maximise the vast natural power resource right on their doorstep – the Vesdre River. 

Working with the local council, the Walloon Region and external investors, we have invested €800,000 to install a hydroelectric turbine that will transform the natural current of the river into power for the site. We expect the turbine will produce an incredible 330 MWh per year – the equivalent energy usage of 94 households (a 170 tonne reduction in CO2 carbon emissions per year).

The team at our Chaudfontaine site has worked tirelessly on sustainable energy management and since 2005 we have reduced the site’s overall energy consumption three-fold. And we are using the natural environment to create the site’s own green energy.  The combination of already-installed solar panels, natural capture of geothermal heat from the mineral water and this new turbine, will help Chaudfontaine produce more than 10% of its required electricity from green energy.

We want future generations to be able to enjoy Chaufontaine water and have spent a long time looking into the long-term future of the site. By anticipating possible pollution risks and exploring the potential of green energy, we’re protecting the unique taste of Chaudfontaine for years to come.

The installation of this turbine is just a small step in our journey toward greater use of green energy. Within our manufacturing operations, we aim to improve our energy efficiency by making greater use of alternative energy resources like this turbine at Chaudfontaine, as well as using solar photovoltaic and wind turbines.

Across our business, we're also working to minimise water impacts in our value chain, establish a water sustainable operation and set the standard for water efficiency. We want to protect the future sustainability of all our water sources and have set the target to safely return to nature.