Conica already teamed up with EnAW in 2017. Founded in 1999 by top Swiss business associations, this energy agency helps companies and agencies to optimise their energy balance. The focus is on clearly defined target agreements and measures that are taken together with the company. Since the beginning of this cooperation, Conica has been working continuously on 5-year targets, aimed at saving on the consumption of oil and natural gas.

The Solar installation was put into operation at the end of September 2022

Conica AG has set itself the new goal of reducing electricity consumption. The largest measure taken to achieve this is the construction of a solar installation, which is scheduled to go into operation at the end of September 2022. “This step was taken just in time before the enormous increase in the price of electricity, but would have been profitable as early as 2020/21,” emphasises plant manager André Heppa, who is responsible for the project. “Before implementation, however, the affected roof areas had to be repaired through retrofitting measures in order to be able to guarantee a sustainable construction.”

The installation, which extends over the roofs of the warehouse, the production area and the northern part of the building, achieves an annual yield of 700 megawatts with its 1,732 400-watt modules. This is almost 45 per cent of the 1600 megawatts required by Conica per year. “By producing electricity ourselves, we are taking a sustainable step towards avoiding CO2 emissions and giving ourselves enormous financial latitude at the same time,” says Heppa.

Complete conversion to solar energy as a goal

André Heppa assumes that the price of electricity will remain high so he is therefore already thinking one step ahead: “We could even expand the solar installation. For this purpose, two additional roof areas could be developed and used for electricity production. A car park roof may also be a viable option . The price for upgrading these areas would be high, but would be economically profitable in terms of electricity expenses. The goal of this plausible expansion would be a complete conversion to solar energy.”

As a chemical company, Conica wants to contribute to minimising the use of fossil fuels and, in the long term, to avoid them altogether. “We take our responsibility in combating climate change very seriously,” says Heppa. “In addition, we hope to gain a competitive advantage if we can advertise that our manufactured products have a relatively low carbon footprint.”

About Conica:

Conica has been developing and manufacturing innovative seamless flooring solutions based on polyurethane and epoxy resins for sports, games, leisure as well as other areas for over 40 years. Conica is one of the world’s market leaders and innovation drivers in this field. The user-oriented requirements for technical and sports functional performance as well as usability while guaranteeing health aspects of the material itself and for the user are the focus of product development. Conica is part of the Serafin group of companies based in Munich.