The European food service wholesaler and distributor, Martin & Servera, is taking steps to boost its sustainability efforts by purchasing more solar power and electrifying its trucks. The company has entered a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to procure additional solar power through the grid, a trend that is becoming increasingly popular in Sweden. PPAs provide buyers with price certainty and sellers with a guaranteed revenue stream, allowing businesses to focus on their core competencies while supporting renewable energy production.
Despite already procuring almost all clean energy, Martin & Servera aims to further reduce its carbon footprint by cutting its CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030, driven primarily by its delivery trucks. The company is committed to aligning with science-based targets that support the Paris Agreement and limit temperature increases. Large commercial and industrial companies have been at the forefront of the renewable energy drive, with major companies such as Amazon, Google, General Motors, Walmart, and Salesforce leading the way in purchasing clean energy through PPAs.
Companies like Alight are helping to break down barriers to entry in the renewable energy sector by offering smaller and more tailored PPAs. Alight develops, owns, and operates solar projects across Europe and built the solar park for Martin & Servera. By 2030, Alight aims to have an installed capacity of at least 5 gigawatts. The decreasing costs of solar energy and consumer demand are driving the shift towards renewable energy procurement among businesses, with regulations playing a smaller role in the decision-making process.
The recent partnership between Martin & Servera and Alight to purchase solar power through a PPA came at an opportune time, just before the rise in European natural gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By locking in low electricity prices with a fixed PPA, both companies benefit from a win-win arrangement. Alight calculates its returns with high certainty, while Martin & Servera pays less than it would for utility-provided power delivered by the grid. Lear, an automotive supplier based in Michigan, has also announced an expanded on-site solar partnership with Alight for projects in Spain, the United Kingdom, and Poland.
PPAs are becoming an attractive option for companies like Lear, as they allow businesses to focus on their core operations while outsourcing energy production and maintenance to partners like Alight. Lear aims to cut its CO2 emissions in half by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, with onsite renewables providing between 10% and 20% of a site’s energy needs. The trend of large brands leading the way in renewable energy procurement through PPAs is creating economies of scale and making clean energy more accessible to all businesses. By locking in prices and outsourcing energy production, eco-minded enterprises are finding PPAs to be a valuable tool in their sustainability efforts.
