Airbus Helicopters hopes to make the Golden Triangle a little greener with a near 6-acre solar farm on the facility’s grounds along Airport Road.
Bart Reijnen, president for Airbus Helicopters in the U.S. and head of the North America region, took to shoveling dirt Tuesday during the ceremonial groundbreaking of the site. Reijnen said moving toward sustainability is a vital part of the company’s operations.
“We want this business to be sustainable from an economic perspective, and of course we continue to invest in what we are doing here,” Reijnen said. “But it’s also important to be conscious about the environmental footprint we cause as a result of the business we want to be doing.”
Construction on the 2 megawatt solar array is expected to begin later this month and wrap up by late fall. The installation will include approximately 4,000 solar panels, each covering 32 square feet, and is projected to offset about 72% of the facility’s electricity consumption.
Reijnen said the $4 million investment will pay off over time through reduced energy costs.
“Four million dollars is not just a little sum of money,” Reijnen said. “It’s quite substantial, and we do this because we think it’s right from an environmental point of view, but also from our own cost point of view. … It’s an investment, and it will not pay off immediately, but over the lifetime, it will allow us to get energy quite a bit cheaper.”
Lowndes County Board of Supervisors granted Airbus Helicopters a 10-year ad valorem tax abatement in November in support of the initiative. The exemption is expected to save the company about $12,000 per year. Airbus will still contribute roughly $14,000 annually in taxes to the Lowndes County School District.
Johannes Dienemann, vice president of industry and civil programs for Airbus Helicopters, said the solar farm is a key part of the company’s roadmap to meet sustainability goals by 2030.
“All across the board, we are looking at initiatives that would make us more sustainable from the environmental perspective,” Dienemanne said. “We set ourselves these targets several years ago, and now we’re working toward them.”
In addition to solar energy, Airbus has goals to reduce landfill waste, carbon emissions and overall energy consumption through implementing energy-efficient air conditioning systems, transitioning from incandescent to LED lighting and incorporating more sustainable aviation fuels.
The new solar farm joins two other major solar projects already in operation in Lowndes County, Golden Triangle I and II, which together produce 350 megawatts of solar energy. Both sites are owned and operated by Origis Energy with TVA purchasing 100% of the energy for a 20-year term.
Joe Max Higgins, CEO for the Golden Triangle Development LINK, praised the region’s growing investment in renewable energy.
“We’ve got a lot of damn solar going on,” Higgins said. “You want to be a better steward of the environment. Your customers want to buy products that are green. As long as you’ll pay a little bit more to get green, then these companies will do it.”
Reijnen called the solar farm a win all around.
“It’s really a win, win, win,” Reijnen said. “Win for the environment, win for Columbus and win for Airbus, and that is why we are doing this.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
