AB InBev partners with South Pole to establish European-wide renewable electricity initiative 

EUROPE – AB InBev, a Belgian multinational drink and brewing company, has announced its partnership with South Pole, a global sustainability provider, to establish a renewable electricity group buying initiative.  

The initiative aims to provide access to training on power purchase agreement (PPA) sourcing in order to support the procurement green electricity for AB InBev suppliers and customers. 

 Through combining forces, the company is looking to facilitate market-leading prices and provide a hedge against price volatility whilst securing the necessary volumes of renewable electricity. 

 The aspiration is that this will make renewable electricity accessible to companies in its supply chain that would traditionally lack the financial resources or without the power demand to contract these agreements themselves. 

Jason Warner, zone president for Europe at AB InBev, said, “At AB InBev, we are committed to not only driving decarbonisation throughout our own operations, but designing solutions that can deliver meaningful impact throughout our own operations. 

Collaborating with partners who share our vision is key and represents a core tenet of our Eclipse decarbonisation program and our global brand purpose.” 

The company says that since 2022, all its beers brewed in Western Europe – including Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois – are brewed with 100% renewable electricity, from a mix of on-site, near-site solar and wind installations and through Guarantees of Origin (GoOs). 

“We know from our own experience that the transition to 100% renewable electricity is a challenging and resource-intensive process,” Warner added. 

 “Our partnership with South Pole represents a critical step in our commitment to reducing scope 3 emissions and will hopefully open the door for many of our customers and suppliers to begin or advance their renewable energy ambitions,” he continued. 

Scope 3 emissions represented more than 85% of AB InBev’s total emissions in 2022, making the programme one of the brewer’s biggest opportunities for emissions reductions. 

Patrick Horka, global director of renewable energy solutions at South Pole, commented: “South Pole is excited to launch this initiative with AB InBev, which is designed to help the members of the group buying program to take part in the clean energy transition and further their green ambitions without requiring them to develop and operate their own renewable energy projects.” 

The Corona producer remains committed to achieving a 25% reduction in emissions per beverage across the value chain by 2025 with 2017 as the base year.