From 2022, CPI Hungary will supply the electricity needed to run its property portfolio exclusively from renewable sources, taking a major step towards sustainable building operation and enabling tenants to significantly reduce their ecological footprint.
CPI Property Group has strengthened its environmental commitments in March 2021, in line with the objectives of sustainable development and the Paris Climate Agreement. Among other things, it will only purchase electricity from renewable sources from 2024 and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. As a significant part of the Group's energy base currently comes from fossil fuel sources, the transition to renewable energy is a major contribution to the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Accordingly, CPI Hungary, the domestic member of the Group, also attaches great importance to green operation in all buildings of its property portfolio. However, as the company's sources of green electricity, including the rooftop solar capacity of its Budapest office portfolio, are limited, renewable electricity will be provided through so-called "Guarantees of Origin" from 2022.
A guarantee of origin (GoO or GO, renewable energy certificate (RECS)) is a tradable electronic document that certifies to the user that a certain amount of electricity comes from a renewable energy source or from high-efficiency cogeneration.
From 2022, CPI Hungary will supply the electricity needed to run its property portfolio in Hungary from a hydroelectric power plant, which will reduce CO2 emissions by 9,000 t per year. When selecting the renewable energy provider, CPI Property Group paid great attention to the fact that the Partner should come from its area of activity, i.e. the Visegrad Group.
"It is of utmost importance for CPI Hungary to maximize the use of renewable energy in our property portfolio, thus significantly reducing the ecological footprint of our buildings. In addition, we are pleased to see that more and more of our tenants are specifically requesting that we provide them with green electricity. Our company's conscious building concept, which encourages tenants to act responsibly and environmentally consciously, is taken to a new level with the green energy purchase" said Mátyás Gereben, Country Manager of CPI Hungary.
Currently, for every kWh (kilowatt-hour) of electricity used by tenants, they emit 0.365 kg/kWh of CO2, but this can be reduced to zero in the future, allowing them to significantly reduce their carbon footprint by purchasing electricity from renewable sources in their day-to-day operations.