Press release: BLEFA goes solar – and builds on the expertise of energy startup ENVIRIA

BLEFA BEVERAGE SYSTEMS is one of the world’s leading suppliers of stainless steel kegs for beer, wine and soft drinks. In order to sustainably reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions, the company is now having the roof of its Kreuztal headquarters fitted with a high-performance photovoltaic system. The contract was awarded to the solar startup ENVIRIA, which specializes in the planning, implementation and operation of ambitious solar projects for business clients.

In Kreuztal, the sun shines for over 1500 hours a year – a fact the manufacturer of beverage kegs BLEFA stands to profit from in the near future. The company has decided to have its headquarters in the North Rhine-Westphalian municipality equipped with a cutting-edge roof-mounted solar system.

The project is being managed by the German solar provider ENVIRIA. The startup, which has made it its mission to radically simplify its customers’ entry into solar energy, is installing PV systems with an output of nearly 1,500 kWp on the 10,000 m² roof area. Starting in 2024, the plant will generate about 1,391,000 kWh of green electricity each year, the vast majority of which BLEFA will be consuming directly on site. The rest will be fed into the grid.

But BLEFA’s decision to use its vacant roof space for the generation of solar energy has environmental benefits as well. By partly powering its production with self-generated green energy, the company will save a full 650 tons of CO₂ emissions per year. This ensures a significantly reduced carbon footprint overall and a better ESG rating.

Rolf Nölke, QM/UM-Manager at BLEFA: “Going solar makes sense for us in every way: It reduces our energy costs and our dependence on the electricity market, benefits the environment, and – last but not least – improves our image as a consumer brand and an employer. With their far-reaching expertise in all aspects of the solar value chain, ENVIRIA are the ideal partner for this project.”

Melchior Schulze Brock, founder and CEO of ENVIRIA: “With their innovative and sustainable decision, BLEFA impressively proves once again that business players can lead the energy transition and benefit from it. At counters around the world beer will soon be poured from BLEFA-kegs made with green energy. We are proud to have helped make this happen.”

The solar plant will be completed this year. It is scheduled to be connected to the grid in the first quarter of 2024. Thus, with ENVIRIA’s help, BLEFA will soon be able to count the sun among its assets.

ENVIRIA provides a radically simple way to shift to solar power and is one of the fastest growing companies in the European solar market. ENVIRIA’s scalable Energy-as-a-Service solutions enable companies to switch to renewable energy, without necessarily making any investments themselves. The start-up covers the entire solar value chain and takes on the planning, installation and operation of new photovoltaic systems and the integration of charging stations and energy storage for its customers. In this way, ENVIRIA boosts the participation of companies in the energy transition and supports the democratization of power generation.

To date, ENVIRIA has developed more than 200 commercial projects with an installed capacity of over 70 MW. In 2022 alone, more than 41,000 tons of CO2 emissions were saved. In 2022, ENVIRIA was included in the “SET100 list” of the world’s 100 best startups in the energy sector and was recognized with the Hessian Founder’s Award for “Social Impact” in 2021.

BLEFA BEVERAGE SYSTEMS is one of the world’s leading suppliers of stainless steel kegs for beer, wine and soft drinks and is part of the internationally operating Artemis Holding group (Aarburg, Switzerland). BLEFA BEVERAGE SYSTEMS has over 155 employees in Germany and around 40 in the USA. All our beer, wine and soft drinks kegs in stainless steel are manufactured at our headquarter in Kreuztal. Our US subsidiary at La Vergne (TN) and Vancouver (WA) does not only provide our customers with kegs from stock (Kwik Kegs), but also with both a stationary and mobile keg service.