iPR Pharmaceuticals invests $3.5M in photovoltaic solar park
iPR Pharmaceuticals, Inc. inaugurated a $3.5 million photovoltaic solar park that supplies approximately 30% of its energy needs, to enhance its path toward sustainability, company officials announced.
“As part of AstraZeneca, we believe in proactively managing our environmental impact. Since we started our operations in Puerto Rico, we have always maintained our commitment to protect the natural resources of the communities where we operate,” said iPR President Sara Miranda.
“For example, in recent years we have invested more than $10 million in reducing our carbon emissions, first by switching to co-generating most of our energy with natural gas and now by investing in renewable energy,” she said. “In less than eight years we have reduced our carbon emissions by more than 50%.”
In 2018, iPR became the first pharmaceutical plant in Puerto Rico to operate a co-generation facility fueled by liquid natural gas, which reduced 45% of its carbon footprint. The PV Solar Park reduces carbon emissions by another 7%, the equivalent of eliminating from the environment 179 gasoline cars while producing the energy equivalent needed to power 104 homes per year.
The new solar park was inaugurated this month in memory of Luis Martínez, an employee known for his commitment to innovation and excellence as part of the facility maintenance team. Miranda explained that the Luis Martínez PV Solar Park adds to the operation’s resilience and manufacturing continuity.
iPR continues to be committed to manufacturing in Puerto Rico in the most sustainable way possible and exporting its product to more than 120 countries around the world.
“Our customers worldwide rely on our continuous production, and we continue to invest to make our operation sustainable and resilient,” said Miranda.
In 2022 AstraZeneca ranked among the top 10 pharmaceutical corporations in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. AstraZeneca is also a founding member of HRH The Prince of Wales Sustainable Markets Initiative, where AstraZeneca CEO, Pascal Soriot, is championing the newly launched Health Systems Taskforce.
The commitment by 50 countries at the World Health Organization-led COP26 Health Programme to develop ‘climate smart’ healthcare is another strong example of the power of collaboration.
