- Corporations have signed contracts for 2.8 GW of solar in the United States this year alone.
- These companies aren’t going to wait for public policy on climate issues to catch up—they are taking the initiative to accelerate toward a prosperous, low-carbon economy.
- Facebook leads the year in highest capacity with its several deals totaling 1,849.5 megawatts (MW) followed by AT&T with 820 megawatts (MW) in 2018.
- At this pace, a fourfold increase in corporate renewable’s procurement by 2025 is anticipated.
The Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center (BRC) has released a report this week via its updated corporate-backed renewable energy procurement deal tracker. The report confirms that corporate renewable energy procurement in the USA has set a new single-year record for new capacity of announced wind and solar deals in 2018.
Corporations have signed contracts for 2.8 GW of solar in the United States this year alone. This is a gigawatt more than the deals signed in all previous years combined.
“The record number of companies successfully pursuing renewable energy this year sends a clear signal that environmental sustainability is a serious priority for business leaders across the economy,” said Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute. “These companies aren’t going to wait for public policy on climate issues to catch up—they are taking the initiative to accelerate toward a prosperous, low-carbon economy.”
The renewables market in the United States has almost doubled its annual total of corporate clean energy off-site deal volume since its prior highpoint in 2015, while the number of new entrants in the market has also doubled.
As of December 14, 2018, publicly announced contracted capacity from corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs), green power purchases, green tariffs, and outright project ownership in the United States cumulatively reached an annual high of 6.43 gigawatts (GW).
Facebook, AT&T, Walmart, ExxonMobil and Microsoft lead the clean energy acceleration with the top five highest volume in deals. Facebook leads the year in highest capacity with its several deals totaling 1,849.5 megawatts (MW), while also breaking all buyer cumulative annual procurement records since deals have been tracked.
Facebook has committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 75% and powering their global operations with 100% renewable energy by the end of 2020. Since their first purchase of wind power in 2013, Facebook has signed contracts for over 3 gigawatts of new solar and wind energy, that includes over 2,500 megawatts in just the past 12 months.
“Facebook is proud to contribute to the record-breaking year of corporate renewable energy deals,” said Rachel Peterson, VP of Data Center Strategy at Facebook. “We believe companies can and should set big commitments to drive our nation’s transition to a clean energy future.”
“We are impressed with the growth and expansion in the corporate renewables marketplace, from a broadening sector diversity, and increasingly supportive policy conditions, to utilities and developers rising to meet customer demand and reducing their own generation emissions. At this pace, we anticipate a fourfold increase in corporate renewables procurement by 2025. There is a tremendous amount of good work yet to be done, and we are counting on the power of partnership to get there.” said Miranda Ballentine, CEO of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA).
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Source: Rocky Mountain Institute
