PhosAgro has signed an agreement with TGC-1, the leading producer of electricity and heat in Russia’s Northwest region, to increase the use of green energy in its fertilizer production chain. The deal was inked during the 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum held June 2-5, the Russian fertilizer group said on June 2.
The agreement builds on an earlier agreement between the two parties, signed in January this year, for the supply of electricity generated at TGC-1’s hydroelectric power plants (GM Jan. 15, p. 38). Some 323 million kwh will be supplied to PhosAgro this year under the deal.
Last December, PhosAgro’s Board approved the company’s climate strategy, the main element of which was to continue efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including indirect energy emissions generated during the production of electricity consumed by the company’s industrial facilities. At the heart of the climate strategy is a low carbon transition plan, the company said.
PhosAgro said it and TGC-1 are linked by a long-term partnership. For decades, the co-generation plants and hydroelectric plants that are now part of TGC-1 have provided the fertilizer group’s plants and the cities where it operates with heat and electricity.
“At the beginning of 2021, we took our cooperation to a new level, having reserved for our Apatit plant supplies of green energy from TGC-1 that will cover more than 20 percent of the plant’s green energy needs this year,” said PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev, during the signing ceremony. “Today, we are agreeing on a significant increase in the consumption of green energy from TGC-1’s hydroelectric power plants,” he said.