REDUCTION OF CO2 EMISSIONS

THROUGH THE PRODUCTION OF CLEAN ENERGY, INSTALLING SYSTEMS OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR PANELS, AS A SOLUTION FOR THE ENERGY SAVING OF ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FORM.

Banco Popular Dominicano has 54 offices and 26 parking areas roofed with solar panels, which allow it to produce 4.7 million kilowatts per hour (kWh) of clean energy, consolidating the financial organization as the first institution in the country with the largest capacity of solar energy generation.

Currently there are 11,255 solar photovoltaic panels installed in this office’s network , which are distributed in 22 cities and are equivalent to 42% of the total number of Banco Popular offices.

These eco-efficient facilities are equivalent to an installed capacity of 3.2 MW (Mega Watts), which make it possible to supply the majority of the consumption of this network of bank branches and supply  sustainable energy into the national grid .

Banco Popular's photovoltaic system is bidirectional, which means that the bank consumes a portion of its clean energy production and injects to the system the surplus of  electricity , for the benefit of Dominican households and companies, in accordance with the net energy metering regulation, of the National Energy Commission.

Reduction of the Environmental Footprint

The solar energy production of these facilities is similar to the average monthly consumption of 9,445 households. In terms of decreasing the environmental footprint, the project means reducing 2.6 million kilograms of CO₂ per year of polluting emissions.

This photovoltaic energy program began in 2011 as part of the environmentally responsible actions of the financial institution and it was honored last year with the Award for Excellence in Cleaner Production  of Renewable Energy, awarded by the Ministry of Environment  and Natural Resources.

In addition to the environmental benefits, there are also improvements in efficiency, since this initiative of green offices currently allows Banco Popular to save around US$737,000.00 annually from the electric bill, strengthening the sustainability of the business model of the financial institution.

As an addition to this photovoltaic production plan, Banco Popular reinforces its policy of reducing energy consumption through the following projects:

§  Building Management System (BMS) project:

o   A total of 114 Automated Offices integrated into a BMS (Building Management System) that allows us to control and manage the hours of use of our indoor and outdoor lighting systems, air conditioning systems, sensors of temperature, humidity and air quality, the monitoring of our electric generators, fuel tanks and UPS monitoring, all remotely through the institution's internal network.

o   Automating the ignition of electromechanical equipment.

o   Control of air conditioning and lighting conditions of different locations.

o   Managing alarms by subsystems.

o   Reducing the consumption of energy.

o   Raising levels of efficiency in the use of electromechanical equipment.

o   Monitoring and analysis of photovoltaic energy production.

§  Metering and Monitoring Energy project

o   We have more than 155 electric meters installed nationwide, allowing us to monitor all the electrical variables of each of our branches and buildings.

o   Monitoring quality of energy.

o   Electric Bill Auditing.

o   Analyzing our distribution network of energy.

o   Monitoring Real-time electricity consumption.

These projects have allowed us to significantly increase the levels of management and energy efficiency in all of our branches, buildings and locations that have such implementation.

Historical data from the Project kWp 2011-2018:

2011            34.88 kWp

2012            174.59 kWp

2013            522.78 kWp

2014            1,140.62 kWp

2015            661.61 kWp

2016            32.76 kWp

2017            321.13 kWp

2018            284.75 kWp

Historical data from the Project kWh 2011-2018:

2011 We started with one (1) Branch – 90,352.00 kWh/year

2012 Three (3) Branches – 266,602.58 kWh/year

2013 Ten (10) Branches – 759,195.18 kWh/year

2014 Twenty-five (25) Branches – 1,709,498.69 kWh/year

2015 Thirteen (13) Branches – 979,059.26 kWh/year

2016 One (1) Branch – 50,154.00 kWh/year

2017 Sixteen (16) Parking areas– 479,652.68 kWh/year

2018 One (1) Branch and Ten (10) Parking areas– 447,991.35 kWh/year

Historical Annual CO₂ Tons Reduction:

2011            49,097.28 Tons CO₂

2012            144,871.84 Tons CO₂

2013            412,546.66 Tons CO₂

2014            928,941.59 Tons CO₂

2015            532,020.80 Tons CO₂

2016            27,253.68 Tons CO₂

2017            260,643.27 Tons CO₂

2018            243,438.50 Tons CO₂

Total Accumulated in Ton CO₂ Reductions during the 8 Years of the Project (2011 - 2018):

2011 – 2018 (49,097.28 x 8 years)   = 392,778.21 Tons CO₂

2012 – 2018 (144,871.84 x 7 years)                 = 1,014,102.89 Tons CO₂

2013 – 2018 (412,546.66 x 6 years)                 = 2,475,279.96 Tons CO₂

2014 – 2018 (928,941.59 x 5 years)                 = 4,644,707.95 Tons CO₂

2015 – 2018 (532,020.80 x 4 years)                 = 2,128,083.21 Tons CO₂

2016 – 2018 (27,253.68 x 3 years)   = 81,761.05 Tons CO₂

2017 – 2018 (260,643.27 x 2 years) = 521,286.53 Tons CO₂

2018 – 2018 (243,438.50 x 1 year)   = 243,438.50 Tons CO₂

TOTAL REDUCTION (2011 – 2018):

11,501,438.30 Tons CO₂