Freeport McMoran

Stowmarket Solar Conversion is Cutting Costs and Carbon

April 22, 2025

Freeport’s ferro molybdenum conversion facility in Stowmarket, England, is cutting energy costs, reducing its carbon footprint and improving the site’s habitat for local wildlife through a recently completed solar power conversion.

In a little more than a year, about 5 acres of solar panels have been installed in what had been a field of scrub brush on company land adjacent to the plant. The solar panels are expected to generate up to 1.2 megawatts of continuous power. When combined with a battery system that can store 1.5 megawatt hours, solar energy will supply about 60 to 70 percent of the site’s power needs. The area’s electrical grid will supplement the solar supply. 

The solar panel project had been included in Stowmarket’s long-range capital plans as part of its effort to reduce carbon emissions, and probably would have been built about five years from now, said Marion Hooson, General Manager-Operations. However, the project was moved forward due to rising electricity costs in the area. Construction of the solar array began in January 2024, and was commissioned in February this year. 

“It does reduce our costs, but more importantly it is reducing our carbon footprint,” Hooson said. “And that’s why it’s important. Our customers are very interested in what we’re doing about emissions and our carbon footprint, and this is a way to show that we are doing our part to reduce that.” 

An added benefit is Stowmarket brought on an ecologist as part of the local permitting process to help design other site improvements to offset any environmental disruption. Some reptiles and native plants actually benefit from the installation of the solar panels because they displace the overpowering scrub brush growing on the site. Additional ecological improvements on other parts of the Stowmarket property will help improve habitats for native birds and other wildlife.

Power consumption is not a huge cost in operating Stowmarket because its molybdenum smelter relies on a chemical reaction rather than any external heat source, Hooson said. 

The new solar array, including the battery storage, does give Stowmarket more stability and predictability when it comes to meeting its energy needs, said Christopher Silburn, Project Engineer II, the project manager. 

Electricity costs are high and rise quickly in the United Kingdom, he said. The battery storage also makes it possible to better manage power use, an important factor given the months of gloomy cloud cover in the region. 

“It will give us a lot of resilience in the face of electrical price hikes. Unfortunately, Europe and the U.K. specifically can be quite sensitive to wider market conditions when it comes to the cost of electricity,” Silburn said. “We unfortunately have some of the most expensive electricity in the European Union and that’s not likely to change. So, it’s a kind of long-term insurance policy.”

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