Beverage giants Britvic and Carlsberg both announced last week that they had entered into renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Lithuanian brewer Švyturys-Utenos alus (ŠUA), part of the Carlsberg Group, said on July 18 that it had joined a novel ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ PPA with renewable energy firm Green Genius.
According to the agreement, Green Genius will develop, construct, commission and operate two PV-plus-storage systems in Lithuania that will provide renewable energy to the brewery. The company says the energy provided will cover 100% of ŠUA’s annual demand with carbon-free electricity.
Carlsberg says the ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ agreement is the “first of its kind” in Lithuania and is set to expedite progress towards the group’s ‘Zero Carbon Footprint’ ambition.
The project’s total value is €7.5 million, of which €2.6 million is funded by the European Union Emissions Trading System’s Innovation Fund, with Green Genius covering the remaining €4.9 million.
Green Genius’s ‘InnoSolveGreen’ project will involve the installation and commissioning of two PV-plus-storage systems. The first system, a new 1.5 MW solar PV, will be installed on ŠUA’s rooftops at the brewery in Utena by May 2024.
To accommodate this expansion without hampering the local electrical grid, a 2.0 MWh battery energy storage system will be installed to meet the brewery’s electricity demands.
The second system, a 5.0 MW off-site utility-scale solar PV plant, will be developed at a new site near Butrimonys, set to start its operations by January 2025.
ŠUA’s on-site and Butrimonys off-site solar PV-plus-storage systems will enable it to source 100% of its electricity from locally produced solar PV energy.
“It will be the first autonomous green electricity solution for industrial users in the Baltic States. Therefore, we see this project as an essential milestone toward sustainability and energy independence in the region,”said Ruslanas Sklepovicius, CEO of Green Genius.
Meanwhile, Britvic announced on 19th that it had partnered with solar energy provider Atrato Onsite Energy to deliver clean energy via a ten-year PPA. The contractual framework provides the investment security needed by Atrato to build the solar farm in an old quarry in Northamptonshire, UK.
The new solar installation will generate energy exclusively for Britvic, with a total capacity of 28 MW. The site will be capable of generating 33.3 GWh of clean energy per year, which the firm says is the equivalent of powering 11,500 homes or planting 260,000 trees.
The electricity generated will be enough to power 75% of Britvic’s current operations in the UK, including its Beckton and Leeds factories, which can produce 2,000 recyclable bottles per minute.
“This deal represents a significant milestone for Britvic as we continue to partner with home-grown renewable energy projects to power our business. The ten-year deal also establishes stability, enabling us to plan more efficiently over the coming years,”said Matt Swindall, chief procurement officer of Britvic.
Gurpreet Gujral, head of renewable energy at Atrato, noted: “We are thrilled to enter into this new corporate PPA with Britvic. This highly innovative PPA structure provides Britvic with a consistent source of renewable energy that matches their electricity needs.”Atatu has fully financed the solar installation and expects it to be commissioned in early 2024.
