mar. 04, 2022

The Mutkalampi Wind Farm: Philips' progress with Sustainability Commitments

• Consortium formed in 2020 between Philips, HEINEKEN, Nouryon and Signify to secure green electricity in Europe

• The consortium is an important building block towards Philips’ sustainability ambitions

• The construction is progressing according to schedule, expected to be fully up and running by early 2023

On the 11th of December 2020 Royal Philips announced a consortium with HEINEKEN, Nouryon and Signify in a unique Pan-European green energy deal securing additional renewable electricity in Europe. This consortium is an important building block towards Philips’ commitment to remain carbon neutral in its operations and source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources.

Green energy is the future

The deal stemmed out of the four companies joined vision for long-term green energy support led to the construction of 35 new wind turbines. Mutkalampi municipality in the Central and Northern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland will be home to the wind farm, developed and owned by Neoen, a French independent power producer, expected to be fully up and running by early 2023. When in production, it will have an expected output volume of 330 GWh per year – equivalent to the electricity consumption of 40,000 households.

Philips steps up for climate action

Mikko Vasama, Market Leader Philips Nordics, says that global companies have a huge responsibility in building a more sustainable future. “As global companies we play a vital role. Both with life cycle analysis of products, but also for the entire production chain from raw material to distribution and recycling. But so much more can be done than just looking at the production chain. In healthcare, precise diagnoses and treatment is part of reducing travel, and our solutions in home-monitoring and remote connections helping with treatment is crucial a streamlined and effective operations throughout the entire care cycle.” Mikko says.

Climate action is not an option, it´s a must, and renewable energy is an important building block towards our sustainability commitments. Being Finnish, I am especially proud to have the wind farm set in Mutkalampi.”

Mikko Vasama

Market Leader Philips Nordics

A massive construction effort

With a year gone by, the Mutkalampi wind farm is well under way towards producing its very first wind-fueled electricity. Construction is progressing according to schedule, with electricity expected to be delivered at full capacity in early 2023. The construction effort is impressive, as developer Neoen is setting the 35 turbines up. A single blade weighs 23 tons, equivalent to 17 cars, and the wind tower is 220 meters high. Almost twice the height of Loisto tower in Kalasatama Centre, and 30 meters taller than Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden.

The consortium between Philips, HEINEKEN, Nouryon and Signify

The consortium stemmed from the four companies joined vision to further reduce CO2 emissions. With Philips commitment to remain carbon-neutral in its operations and use 100% of electricity from renewable sources, the wind farm is a great facilitator for Philips is securing renewable electricity supply to power its European operations. The consortium has committed to contracting renewable electricity from the wind farm for the first 10 years through a virtual PPA. The electricity will be physically delivered to the Finnish grid while the four consortium partners benefit from the Guarantees of Origin. This provides income stability for Neoen’s renewable plant while guaranteeing clean energy benefits for the corporate buyers.

Philips has previously been recognized for its achievements in its sustainably commitments. In March 2021, it was ranked by not-for-profit environmental impact disclosure organization CDP as being among the top 7% of all companies assessed for supplier engagement on climate change[1]. It has been on the CDP Climate Change A-list for eight consecutive years. Its greenhouse gas reduction targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and it achieved second place in 2020 on Wall Street Journal’s 100 Most Sustainably Managed Companies in the World.

[1] Based on Philips’ 2020 disclosures