Akzonobel transiting to clean energy in China
Coatings firm AkzoNobel says more than half of its production sites in China are edging closer to operating on 100% renewable electricity as efforts to rely solely on clean energy continue to generate momentum.
A major project is underway which so far involves eight of the company’s 15 Chinese facilities using a combination of self-generated and externally sourced renewable electricity to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels towards zero carbon alternatives.
Both the Suzhou and Changzhou sites will achieve 100% renewable electricity coverage this year. Plans are also in place for both the Shanghai and Wuhan plants to reach 90% by 2026. Meanwhile, two facilities in Langfang have already achieved 100% coverage and the Guangzhou site 20% as of January 2025 (although this is soon expected to double), with the Decorative Paints plant in Chengdu currently sourcing 18% of its electricity from renewable energy.
“We’re fully focused on achieving our ambition of 100% renewable electricity in our own operations by 2030,” explains Wijnand Bruinsma, AkzoNobel’s Director of Sustainability.
He adds that the company strives to generate renewable electricity on-site in combination with external sourcing, as this alleviates pressure on the grid and creates additional capacity, which contributes to the energy transition.
Building on the success of the company’s first solar installations in China in 2021, the second phase was launched in 2024. This has been gathering pace in recent months and has involved installing a total of more than 5,600 panels in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
As of February 2025, AkzoNobel has received six government-certified “green factory” accolades in China, three of which are at national level – Chengdu, Shanghai and Guangzhou – and three at local level – Shanghai, Suzhou and Changzhou.
Outside of China, AkzoNobel already operates on 100% renewable electricity at all its manufacturing locations in North America, Latin America and Europe. During 2024, the company installed its largest European solar energy plant at the Pilawa site in Poland. There are 3,551 solar panels, with an installed capacity of 1.9 MWp.
