Danone North America signs renewable energy deal with Enel

Danone North America has signed a 12-year renewable energy power purchase agreement (PPA) with Enel’s green subsidiary, as part of its 2030 renewable goals.

Enel Green Power North America has started operations of its 500mW high lonesome wind farm in Upton and Crockett Counties, in Texas. The US company has said the plant will generate around 1.9 tW per hour annually and avoid the emission of more than 1.2 million tonnes of C02 per year.

The deal has resulted in an additional 50 mW expansion of Enel’s wind farm, increasing the total capacity to 500 MW and a plant worth $720 million. The wind farm marks Enel’s largest operational wind project in the group’s global renewable portfolio.

According to the companies, the agreement will provide enough electricity to produce the equivalent of almost 800 million cups of yogurt and over 80 million gallons of milk each year. This move will support Danone’s commitment to securing 100% of its purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Mariano Lozano, president and CEO of Danone North America, said: “As a public benefit corporation committed to balancing the needs of our business with those of society and the planet, we truly believe that this agreement makes sense from both a business and sustainability point of view.

“We’re delighted to be working with Enel Green Power to expand their high lonesome wind farm and grow the renewable electricity infrastructure here in the US.”

Enel said that the energy produced by a 295mW portion of the project will be hedged under a Proxy Revenue Swap (PRS) with insurer Allianz and Nephila Climate, to produce stable revenues for the project regardless of power price fluctuations and weather-driven intermittency.

“The start of operations of Enel’s largest wind farm in the world marks a significant achievement for our company and reinforces our global commitment to accelerated renewable energy growth,” said Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of Enel Green Power. 

Cammisecra added: “This milestone is matched with a new partnership with Danone North America to support their renewable goals, a reinforcement of our continued commitment to provide customers with tailored solutions to meet their sustainability goals.”

With construction of the plant underway, operations are due to start in the first quarter of 2020.