meteocontrol: power generation profiles for PPA projects

Jul 30, 2020 | Environment

Augsburg, July 30, 2020 – meteocontrol GmbH is now providing a new technical consulting service with its system-specific power generation profiles. Based on yield simulations, the hour profiles map the power expected from a photovoltaic system for all 8,760 hours in a year. Industrial and commercial energy buyers demand these independently produced generation profiles from system operators prior to concluding Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). meteocontrol supports system operators on a consultative basis and as an independent expert in PPA tenders.

Power supply contracts between system operators and power buyers – so-called Power Purchase Agreements – are becoming increasingly important in the trading of solar power. PPA contracts represent an important power marketing concept for project developers, investors and system operators outside of the traditional feed-in tariff framework. Power supply contracts enable major commercial and industrial consumers to hedge against rising power prices and let them benefit from clean power as a marketing tool.

Power generation to match the load profile

The generation profiles of a PV system ideally matching the load profile of the company is a prerequisite for buyers, so-called off-takers, when buying solar power directly. meteocontrol is able to deliver proof of this: as one of the first PV service providers, the company supplies power generation profiles specific to each system and for every single hour of the year. The company”s 8,760-hour profiles are the result of yield simulations based on historical irradiation data. meteocontrol is pioneering in the monitoring and analysis of photovoltaic systems with a database of over 48,000 monitored PV systems. The company also has the necessary experience, acquired from over 15 years of technical consulting and more than 2,300 yield reports produced.

Independent expert in PPA tenders

Producing yield simulations is not new for the Augsburg-based PV service provider. “They provide the basis for bankable yield reports that we have been producing for project developers, investors and system operators as part of our technical consulting services for many years.” explains Matthias Hadamscheck, Head of Technical Consulting at meteocontrol. Christopher Meyer-Friedrich, Technical Consulting Sales Engineer, continues: “The requirements of the market are now changing: Off-takers are now demanding specific hour-based power generation profiles in PPA tenders or tender processes. We can quickly and easily supply them at the request of project developers and system operators. We also support the latter as an independent expert in the ongoing process, whether with construction supervision or technical inspection for commissioning.”

New Iggesund thick paperboard for packaging certified for HP Indigo digital commercial presses

Jul 27, 2020 | Environment

/ins A new thick paperboard from Iggesund Paperboard has been certified for HP Indigo for printing high-value applications on commercial digital presses.

The 18 pt (457 microns ) Invercote Creato 380 g/m2 is double coated on both sides, offering identical print surfaces on both sides, making it especially suitable for premium packaging applications The paperboard was tested and certified for the HP Indigo 10000 series and HP Indigo 7000 series presses.

“When developing this product’s grammage and thickness, our development team wanted to ensure we meet not only the demanding requirements of conventional printing methods, but also the needs of digital printers who are looking for the thickest possible substrate that today’s digital presses can handle. This grammage is especially interesting to the US market where 18 pt is an attractive thickness for a lot of applications”, says Petra Kreij, Product Manager for Invercote at Iggesund Paperboard.

Tests were conducted at HP Indigo testing center in Singapore in multi-shot mode on an HP Indigo 7600 press and an HP Indigo 10000 press. At Iggesund, the certification process has been coordinated by Wout van Hoof, Senior Technical Manager with a special responsibility for digital printing processes.

“We are very pleased that Iggesund has certified this new thick substrate. It is one of the thickest products that has been certified for our HP Indigo presses, opening new high-value packaging opportunities for HP Indigo commercial press owners,” said Heidemarie Hinger, HP Indigo Commercial Media Manager.

Invercote Creato 380 g/m2 joins the other grammages within the portfolio of which all the lower grammages already have HP certification. All certified products and grammages are available in the HP MediaLocator, and through regular Iggesund distribution.

The Invercote Creato product family, is designed to offer equal printing properties on both sides, with an exceptionally smooth surface that is tailored to faithfully reproduce the most sophisticated printed images. This surface, combined with Invercote Creato’s excellent structural, design and embossing characteristics, make it ideal for demanding graphical applications. The whiteness level is tailored to ensure the best print contrast and colour reproduction properties required for high-end print productions.

Caption: A new thick paperboard from Iggesund Paperboard has been certified for HP Indigo for printing high-value applications on commercial digital presses.

Iggesund

Iggesund Paperboard is part of the Swedish forest industry group Holmen, one of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies listed on the United Nations Global Compact Index. Iggesund’s turnover is just over €500 million and its flagship product Invercote is sold in more than 100 countries. The company has two brand families, Invercote and Incada, both positioned at the high end of their respective segments. Since 2010 Iggesund has invested more than €380 million to increase its energy efficiency and reduce the fossil emissions from its production.

Iggesund and the Holmen Group report all their fossil carbon emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project. The environmental data form an integral part of an annual report that complies with the Global Reporting Initiative’s highest level of sustainability reporting. Iggesund was founded as an iron mill in 1685, but has been making paperboard for more than 50 years. The two mills, in northern Sweden and northern England employ 1500 people.

Further information:

Iggesund Paperboard

Therese Rahm, Communication Manager,

Iggesund Paperboard, +46 70 595 56 10,

therese.rahm@holmen.com

www.iggesund.com

New recycling recommendations help climate efforts

Jul 27, 2020 | Environment

/ins In the UK new recommendations allow paperboard packaging to contain up to 15 per cent plastic and still be considered recyclable. One item of such packaging can have 80 per cent less climate impact compared with the corresponding all-plastic packaging.

Paperboard packaging with a thin plastic barrier is an ideal compromise which combines paperboard’s stiffness for the construction with plastic’s impermeability for such purposes as a longer food lifespan. This type of packaging reduces the use of plastic and has far less climate impact than the equivalent packaging made only of plastic.

However, opinion has been divided over whether and how this type of packaging can be recycled. The answer depends mainly on which technology is available in each local market. This has been the case in the UK, which has lacked clear advice on how packaging made of such combination materials should be recycled.

Plastic-coated paperboard

At the beginning of 2020, the UK labelling organisation OPRL (On-Pack Recycling Label) issued guidelines for how to recycle packaging made of paper and board with a plastic coating. The guidelines were developed in cooperation with the relevant industry organisations and specify which recycling label should be put on the packaging to advise consumers.

The new recommendations state that packaging can contain up to 15 per cent plastic and still be classified as recyclable and be sorted in the waste stream for paper materials. As of January 2023 the permitted plastic content will be reduced to 10 per cent of the packaging’s weight.

Gives time for development

“This is a good decision which establishes clear rules for a number of years ahead,” comments Ginny Samuel, Business Development Manager at Iggesund Paperboard. “Those of us who work with paper- and paperboard-based packaging have been challenged to develop solutions using less material but we’ve also been given time to do this.”

OPRL originally wanted to allow far less than 15 per cent plastic content in fibre-based packaging. But increasing awareness of packaging’s climate impact has already persuaded numerous major brand owners to start replacing their all-plastic solutions. This is particularly the case with food packaging, where plastic is often necessary as a barrier against moisture, grease or aroma. Setting the limit for plastic content too low would have risked slowing down this development.

“One solution that’s very common in food packaging is to put the food in a tray, and plastic is most commonly used for this,” explains Jonas Adler, Director New Business Development at Iggesund Paperboard. “We can replace it with our combination material Inverform, which is a paperboard tray with a thin plastic barrier. But it currently has a plastic content of over 10 per cent.

“Our solution reduces the packaging’s climate impact by 80 per cent, so it would be a setback for sustainability work if this packaging solution were to be penalised.”

Significant reduction

The goal of the paper and board industry is to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of plastic in this type of product – a step that requires new, fossil-free barriers. Development work is being done in many places, and new and increasingly better solutions will undoubtedly be presented in within the next few years.

OPRL’s guidelines are primarily intended for the UK market, and the question is how much will they influence other markets?

“They will also be significant outside the UK,” Jonas Adler replies. “Because so many strong brands are based there, these guidelines will definitely have an impact outside the British Isles.”

Adapting facilities

Jonas Adler also emphasises that material manufacturers cannot bear all the responsibility for closing the recycling circle.

“The recycling systems and their facilities must also be developed so that they can handle the new, resource-efficient material solutions. OPRL’s recommendation gives both them and the material producers time to adapt, and thereby creates the conditions to make the packaging industry even more circular.”

Caption: Plastic trays are common applications in food packaging. By changing to paperboard and a plastic barrier the climate impact is significantly lowered whilst the package is still recyclable.

Iggesund

Iggesund Paperboard is part of the Swedish forest industry group Holmen, one of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies listed on the United Nations Global Compact Index. Iggesund’s turnover is just over €500 million and its flagship product Invercote is sold in more than 100 countries. The company has two brand families, Invercote and Incada, both positioned at the high end of their respective segments. Since 2010 Iggesund has invested more than €380 million to increase its energy efficiency and reduce the fossil emissions from its production.

Iggesund and the Holmen Group report all their fossil carbon emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project. The environmental data form an integral part of an annual report that complies with the Global Reporting Initiative’s highest level of sustainability reporting. Iggesund was founded as an iron mill in 1685, but has been making paperboard for more than 50 years. The two mills, in northern Sweden and northern England employ 1500 people.

Further information:

Iggesund Paperboard

Therese Rahm, Communication Manager,

Iggesund Paperboard, +46 70 595 56 10,

therese.rahm@holmen.com

Jonas Adler

Director New Business Development

jonas.adler@holmen.com

+46 70 351 85 00

www.iggesund.com

Barrier-coated paperboard – the alternative to plastic for smart packaging

Jul 27, 2020 | Environment

/ins The hunt for materials that can replace plastic is intense. Innovation work is being done on a global scale to find renewable alternatives to plastic so that humanity can reduce the huge impact on the environment from our use of plastic. Many solutions are being tried but we still have no material with all of plastic’s great advantages without its devastating disadvantages. Instead of waiting for that magic material, which may never come, packaging buyers concerned about the climate should consider the existing alternatives and move to composite materials.

Proven packaging solutions already exist that combine a renewable material such as paperboard with a small amount of plastic, reducing their climate impact by over 80 per cent compared with traditional all-plastic packaging.

One very common type of food packaging is the plastic tray, which is then sealed for its onward journey to the consumer. Instead of making the entire tray of plastic, an easy alternative is to replace the plastic with a composite material consisting of renewable paperboard with a thin plastic layer that supplies the barrier properties needed to protect against moisture, grease and aromas. The stiffness and strength required for the construction comes from the paperboard’s wood fibres, and the plastic’s barrier properties provide the functional finishing touch. This relatively easy change of materials reduces the packaging’s climate impact by over 80 per cent.

“Plastic is an excellent material for packaging. It is very formable and provides the seal we need in food packaging with high hygiene requirements,” explains Stefan Söderberg, Sales Manager New Products at Iggesund Paperboard. He is leading the market launch of Inverform, a composite material from Iggesund that can replace all-plastic trays and greatly reduce the trays’ climate impact.

Various types of packaging made of plastic-coated paperboard have existed for decades. But thanks to the latest advances in paperboard manufacture, they have gained better functionality and reduced their climate impact. The debate over fossil versus renewable materials and their respective climate impacts has further placed the combination of plastic and paperboard in an increasingly positive light.

“The disadvantages of plastic packagings is that they are normally totally fossil based and are also not very easy to recycle,” comments Johan Granås, Sustainability Director at Iggesund Paperboard. “In comparison, our paperboard’s climate impact is about 90 per cent less than that of plastic. By combining paperboard with a thin plastic barrier, a packaging’s total climate impact can be radically reduced compared with that of plastic packaging.”

At least three serious problems are linked to humanity’s extensive use of plastic materials:

The large climate impact due to the fossil raw material
The lack of biodegradability, which leads e.g. to plastic collecting in the oceans
The low level of recycling – less than 40 per cent.

Today bioplastics are possible alternatives in some cases. These do have a better origin than traditional plastic materials but their climate impact is still only marginally lower than that of the traditional plastics and they are often extremely hard to recycle. Bioplastics can also be difficult to handle in packaging manufacturers’ production processes, often resulting in worse productivity.

“We’ve used bioplastics for about a decade in our manufacture of plastic-coated paperboard,” Stefan Söderberg says. “In production terms they’re generally acknowledged to be hard to handle, they have more limited applications than traditional plastics, and they’re also more expensive. Advances in bioplastics are constantly being made, because many companies are looking for a fossil-free bioplastic with properties that allow it to function smoothly in production – both for us as a material manufacturer and for those who manufacture the final packaging.”

But the plastic issue doesn’t end there. Last year, Iggesund Paperboard surveyed non-food retail packaging and found many examples of plastic usage where the plastic lacked any real function. These included plastic packagings for lightbulbs, headphones and textiles, all of which had great potential to reduce their climate impact.

“Many packagings contain plastic that could easily be replaced by less climate-damaging material,” Johan Granås adds. “We’ve found examples of packaging whose climate impact has been reduced by 99 per cent by replacing the material. It’s sensible to start there – to invest in the easy climate gains and wait for the innovation process to find solutions to the more difficult packaging challenges.”

While waiting for the materials manufacturers to find new, fossil-free barriers, the market is demanding packaging made of paperboard coated with either traditional plastic or bioplastic.

“Replacing the plastic and minimising the climate impact is something that all major brand owners have written into their environmental guidelines, and their numbers are growing every month,” Johan Granås concludes.

Caption:

Replacing the plastic tray in food packaging with a combination of paperboard and plastic can reduce the tray’s climate impact by about 80 per cent .Photo: Gabriel Liljevall

Iggesund

Iggesund Paperboard is part of the Swedish forest industry group Holmen, one of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies listed on the United Nations Global Compact Index. Iggesund’s turnover is just over €500 million and its flagship product Invercote is sold in more than 100 countries. The company has two brand families, Invercote and Incada, both positioned at the high end of their respective segments. Since 2010 Iggesund has invested more than €380 million to increase its energy efficiency and reduce the fossil emissions from its production.

Iggesund and the Holmen Group report all their fossil carbon emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project. The environmental data form an integral part of an annual report that complies with the Global Reporting Initiative’s highest level of sustainability reporting. Iggesund was founded as an iron mill in 1685, but has been making paperboard for more than 50 years. The two mills, in northern Sweden and northern England employ 1500 people.

Further information:

Iggesund Paperboard

Therese Rahm, Communication Manager,

Iggesund Paperboard, +46 70 595 56 10,

therese.rahm@holmen.com

www.iggesund.com