This week, Roularta Media Group (RMG) commissioned a photovoltaic park at its production site in Roeselare. The Belgian media and printing group, which is forecasting sales of 302 million euros for 2025, installed 2,933 panels on a total surface area of 20,000 m2. The investment exceeds 1.1 million euros. The inauguration took place on Monday, in the presence of Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele.
Located behind the Roularta Printing plant, this installation complements the 2âeuros000Â panels already on the roof. The newly installed panels produce almost 2âeuros000Â MWh per year, equivalent to the consumption of 565Â households, and reduce CO2 emissions by around 120Â tonnes. They cover 14% of Roeselareâ??s energy needs.
Around 75% of the electricity generated will be used directly to power the site's activities, primarily the printing plant, but also the offices and electric vehicle charging facilities. The remaining 25%, generated mainly at weekends, is fed into the grid.
The project is based on a ground configuration, which is rare in Flanders. The system takes into account the landscaping: the panels are installed at different heights to follow the topography of the land, and valleys and vegetated areas to enhance biodiversity structure the whole.
Roularta Media Group aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Xavier Bouckaert, CEO of RMG, states: "Today, we have already installed more than double the number of solar panels required by legislation by 2035 for large electricity consumers. This solar park (...) follows on from initiatives such as heat recovery from the printing plant and the electrification of the vehicle fleet. We are constantly striving to make our activities more sustainable."
The group is also studying battery storage solutions to optimize the use of the electricity generated.
The deployment of the park is accompanied by an initiative involving the Group's 1,200 employees. Each employee was able to associate his or her name with one or more panels, a way of involving the whole team in this major energy project.
