(Seychelles News Agency) - Global seafood producer Thai Union Group plans to install solar panels at Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT), its Seychelles-based tuna processing facility, to reduce its carbon footprint.

Work on the installation of the solar panels is expected to start in August 2022 at a cost of €300,000.

According to a press statement, the energy generated by the solar panels, which is expected to cover over 30 percent of the factory's plant, is set to supply mainly IOT's cold storage facility that needs to be cooled 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The IOT plant - one of the world's largest tuna canning factories - is the largest commercial consumer of energy in Seychelles.

The solar panels are expected to reduce IOT's reliance on non-renewable energy by 8 percent.

IOT plant manager Ricardo Luzio said that Thai Union has a firm commitment to tackling climate change and increasing the use of renewable energy is an important component of its global sustainability strategy.

"This project not only supports the company's commitment to responsible operations and efforts to reduce our environmental impact, it will also deliver savings which will be re-invested in the future expansion of the solar panels and, importantly, is in line with the Seychelles government's renewable energy plan," said Luzio.

To implement the project, IOT signed a contract with energy provider Mettle Solar Investments - a pan-African commercial and industrial solar platform company - and the cannery will purchase energy from the provider.

Thai Union owns 60 percent of IOT and the remaining 40 percent belongs to the government of Seychelles.