US subsidiary of materials and construction company Saint-Gobain has signed a 10-year, 200MW solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with energy major TotalEnergies.
The French-owned manufacturing and construction company has 145 industrial sites in North America and has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050.
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This PPA is predicted to offset Saint-Gobain’s scope 2 emissions across the continent by 210,000 metric tonnes per year, roughly a third of its current level. The agreement is expected to begin at the end of 2024.
CEO of Saint-Gobain North America, Mark Rayfield, said: “With this agreement, Saint-Gobain North America will dramatically reduce its CO2 emissions while sending a strong signal to the market that the manufacturing industry is ready to commit to green electricity.”
It is the first physical renewable PPA the company has agreed in North America, having announced a virtual PPA with the Blooming Grove Wind Farm in March. This virtual PPA led the company to receive green energy certificates that offset their carbon emissions by approximately 33%.
Over the last year, Saint-Gobain has announced a flurry of initiatives to offset or reduce their carbon emissions in North America. The majority have involved recycling their own waste and upgrading their facilities, such as installing a smart water system at their Georgia location in September and upgrading equipment at a Buchanan, New York gypsum plant to save 700,000kWh of electricity annually. The PPA with TotalEnergies marks a more concrete step towards decarbonising their supply chain.
Marc-Antoine Pignon, managing director of TotalEnergies USA, said: “We are excited to support Saint-Gobain and be a part of making their sustainable goals in North America a reality, and we look forward to continuing this mutual effort to decarbonise their energy supplies,”
“Ourambition in the US is to become a key partner for corporate players committed to achieving carbon neutrality by offering them innovative and cost-effective renewable solutions to decarbonise their electricity consumption.”, he continued.
At the end of August, TotaEnergies completed its first commercial and industrial (C&I) PV project since acquiring SunPower’s C&I business in February.