USA — Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU), a subsidiary of Mexican multinational baking company Grupo Bimbo, is installing solar energy microgrids at its facilities in an effort to cut down carbon emissions.
The company has contracted GreenStruxure, an energy services company based in Grenoble, France, to design, build, own, operate and maintain on-site renewable solar energy microgrids at six BBU baking plants in California.
Under an agreement solar arrays and battery storage will power the BBU plants, giving the facilities zero-carbon energy, peak demand management and optimized use of energy from the microgrid and the on-site system.
Bimbo said the microgrids will generate 25% of the electricity needs for the sites, delivering a 25% cut in carbon emissions.
“Grupo Bimbo and Bimbo Bakeries USA are committed to Net Zero Carbon by 2050,” said Chris Wolfe, senior director of environmental sustainability at BBU.
“These onsite microgrids represent a key component to our diversified strategy.”
The six baking plants are located in Montebello and Placentia in metropolitan Los Angeles; Oxnard, south of Santa Barbara; San Luis Obispo; South San Francisco; and Sacramento.
Bimbo said the plants were chosen based on their energy intensity, rising electricity costs and to maximize the decarbonization impact.
“In California, the combination of rising utility rates and an incentive rich atmosphere for renewable energy allows these projects to be not only profitable, but also improve the communities where we live and work,” said Kevin Yavari, senior regional manager of environmental sustainability for the western United States.
Bimbo said it is working with GreenStruxure to identify additional sites for deployment of the microgrid option.
“Bimbo Bakeries USA’s actions have made it very clear that they are going to lead the market when it comes to sustainability,” said Jose Lorenzo, chief executive officer of GreenStruxure.
“On-site energy systems are Bimbo Bakeries USA’s best option to decarbonize and fulfill their long-term sustainability targets with optimized cost.”
Sustainability Champion
BBU and its parent company Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV have been active in adopting sustainable practices in recent years.
In October 2021, Bimbo announced it was committing to zero carbon emissions by 2050 and three months later BBU joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power partnership.
The EPA program has 1,700 partner organizations and urges businesses to use green power to cut the environmental effects of conventional electricity use.
In mid-March, BBU was among companies awarded the US Energy Star certification for 2021 and accounted for 17 of 93 US manufacturing plans in the United States that have the certification.
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