ENGIE North America announced it is piloting a new precycling provision that will integrate solar panel and project component recycling into initial agreements for four upcoming projects with technology-based solar panel recycling company SOLARCYCLE.
The provision incorporates recycling into power purchase agreements (PPAs) as a way to support developers with end-of-life material recycling at the beginning of a project’s lifecycle.
The agreements will guarantee approximately one million solar panels from 375 megawatts of projects across the Midwest will be recycled when they reach the end of their useful lives. According to estimates, the company will prevent 48 million pounds of material from entering landfills and avoid around 33,000 tons of carbon emissions.
The collaboration ensures that the solar panel and system components on these projects will have full traceability to ensure circularity goals are met and returned to the domestic supply chain.
The projects are scheduled to be completed over the next couple of years and will add to the more than 12 gigawatts of wind, solar, and battery storage operated by ENGIE in North America.
“ENGIE’s precycling provision sets a new precedent for the utility-scale solar industry by proving that circular economy principles can be achieved without complex regulatory intervention and in a way that doesn’t require an up-front payment. We’re happy to work creatively with leaders like ENGIE to support their commitment to circularity, domestic energy, and sustainability,” said Jesse Simons, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at SOLARCYCLE, in a statement.
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