US- Kraft Heinz, an American multinational food company, has entered into a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary, BHE Renewables, for the purchase of renewable energy for its operations within the US.

Under the agreement, Kraft Heinz plans to purchase enough renewable energy to offset more than 15% of the energy usage at its manufacturing sites by the end of 2022, increasing to approximately 60% by 2026.

The renewable energy for the new agreement is expected to come from BHE Renewables’ 158 MW Gopher Creek wind farm in Texas.

Miguel Patricio, Kraft Heinz CEO and Board Chair said: “As one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, we are committed to contributing to global efforts to reduce the ongoing threat of climate change.”

 In 2020, we committed to buying the majority of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025. This agreement with BHE Renewables helps put us on track to accomplish that aspiration and brings us one step closer to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”

Virtual power purchase agreement with Repsol

Also, on June 28, the American food company announced a 12-year VPPA with Repsol, a global multi-energy company operating across more than 20 countries and based in Madrid, Spain.

Kraft Heinz expects to source over 90-gigawatt hours/year of renewable energy from the Spanish producer Repsol’s largest wind project, Delta II (Aragon, Spain).

The sourced power is equivalent to powering approximately 90 percent of Kraft Heinz’s European manufacturing sites or powering approximately 25,000 average EU households per year, according to Kraft Heinz.

In 2021, Kraft Heinz announced its goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its operational footprint (Scope 1 and Scope 2) and entire global supply chain (Scope 3) by 2050, reaffirming its commitment to contribute to global efforts to reduce the ongoing threat of climate change.

Kraft Heinz continues to prioritize environmental stewardship by pursuing renewable energy opportunities around the world through utility-scale power purchase agreements (PPAs) and VPPAs.

These VPPA agreements are the latest in a series of renewable energy initiatives the Company has undertaken in an effort to reduce 50 percent of its emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Other initiatives include solar projects at three Kraft Heinz manufacturing sites in China – Qingdao, Foshan, and Shanghai, which are expected to prevent approximately 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year for the next two decades.

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