Bulgaria: Beer maker Kamenitza completes first phase of rooftop solar installation
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Bulgarian brewer Kamenitza, part of U.S.-based Molson Coors Brewing Company, said on September 29 that it has completed the first phase of a rooftop solar photovoltaic system at its Haskovo brewery, for an initial investment of close to 3 million levs ($1.6 million/1.5 million euro), SeeNews reported.
The solar array comprises 4,350 panels at present and was installed by local company Hydrolia, which has also developed and operates the brewer's wastewater treatment plant and biogas installation, a Kamenitza spokeswoman told SeeNews. Kamenitza's treatment plant processes wastewater for Haskovo's entire Northern Industrial Zone.
The PV system, the construction of which began in December, was completed ahead of schedule, in eight months instead of the originally planned year and a half, the spokeswoman added. It was financed from the company's own funds and is the first solar park of this scale for Molson Coors worldwide.
The installation's output of 2 MWh is expected to cover up to 30% of the Kamenitza brewery's total energy consumption.
Currently, the facility spreads over more than 13,000 square metres. Kamenitza plans to expand it in the next two years, by installing more solar panels over another 5,000 sq m.
In 2022, Kamenitza's sales amounted to roughly 1.15 hectolitres, with 95% of malt used for brewing produced from Bulgarian barley, according to the company's 2022 ESG report.
