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    1. Distributed Energy

    Longroad Energy Building 55-Acre Solar Field to Power Recyclable Glass Maker Ardagh Plant in California

    March 10, 2025
    The solar field will supply 20% of Ardagh's expected energy use. In collaboration with Longroad, project partners supporting the solar facility include First Solar, Valta Energy, McCarthy Building Companies, Nevados and A-C Electric Company.
    Image credit Ardagh/PR Newswire
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    Ardagh Glass Packaging will use on-site solar to supply one-fifth of the electricity demand at its Madera, California facility.

    The 55-acre solar field, built, owned and operated by Longroad Energy, will deliver renewable energy to Ardagh's glass manufacturing facility. In collaboration with Longroad, project partners supporting the solar facility include First Solar, Valta Energy, McCarthy Building Companies, Nevados and A-C Electric Company.

    "This renewable electricity project in Madera is a testament to Ardagh's commitment to sustainability," said Brian Brandstatter, President and CEO of AGP-North America. "We are ensuring long-term value, reliability and cost-effective solutions for the brands that rely on us by enhancing our sustainability efforts.”

    This is not the glass company's first foray into renewable distributed energy. In 2019, Ardagh contracted KDC Solar to build a solar field at its Bridgeton, New Jersey, glass production facility.

    Overall, Ardagh Glass Packaging operates 37 production facilities in North America, Europe and Africa. It employs 13,000 people and generated close to $4.2 billion in revenues over the past year. 

    Ardagh is one of several global glass or packaging industry companies decarbonizing their part of the industrial sector. Last  year, Asahi India Glass Unlimited signed a 20-year offtake agreement for hydrogen and solar power.

    Three years ago, glass manufacturer Encirc announced it was partnering with distiller Diageo to build a hydrogen-powered furnace at a facility in the United Kingdom.

    Saint Gobain also has decarbonized through utilizing recycled glass and using biogas at facilities. 

     

     

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.