In a significant step towards its sustainability goals, Unilever Costa Rica announced on April 25, 2024, its plan to develop a major 1.36 MW solar power system at its manufacturing plant in Belén, Heredia. The initiative represents one of the largest corporate solar energy projects in the country and underscores the multinational’s commitment to renewable energy.
The new installation will feature solar panels spanning 6,100 square meters across both rooftops and ground-mounted arrays at the facility. This project is a key part of Unilever’s global strategy to decarbonize its operations and enhance environmental performance.
According to Luis González, Manager of the Unilever Costa Rica Nutrition Factory, the ultimate ambition is to transform the Belén plant into the first facility in Unilever’s global network to operate entirely on emission-free, 100% renewable energy. This pioneering effort sets a new benchmark for the company’s manufacturing sites worldwide.
The project is being realized through a strategic public-private partnership. Unilever is collaborating with the renewable energy firm Enertiva and the local electricity distributor Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL) under a comprehensive energy services agreement. Alejandro Brenes, Manager of Enertiva, lauded the collaboration as a model for innovation that simultaneously promotes environmental stewardship, job creation, and economic growth within the region’s burgeoning renewable energy market.
Sources for Unilever Costa Rica to Install 1.36 MMW Solar System in Heredia
- SeaEval/CRAFT-Singapore-v2-166k Dataset – Hugging Face
- MDPI Research Document on Polymer Degradation
- SolarQuarter Report on Unilever Costa Rica
- UEA ePrints Research Paper
- University of Florida Digital Collections
- Science.gov Topic Page
