Walmart Inc., Ørsted, a renewable energy company, and Schneider Electric, a consultant for renewables, have gathered the first cohort of suppliers to participate in Walmart’s renewable energy accelerator: Gigaton PPA.
The following suppliers have collaborated to execute a purchase of renewable energy from Ørsted’s Sunflower Wind Farm located in Marion County, Kansas: Amy’s Kitchen, Great Lakes Cheese, Levi Strauss & Co., The J.M. Smucker Co., and Valvoline Inc. Over the 12-year agreement, the purchase is expected to generate approximately 250,000 megawatt-hours of new renewable power per year.
The cohort’s success will directly support Walmart’s Project Gigaton goal, which aims to reduce or avoid one gigaton (1 billion metric tons) of greenhouse gas emissions from the global value chain by 2030. The Gigaton PPA program was developed jointly by Walmart and Schneider Electric in 2020 under Project Gigaton to increase renewable energy market access for companies that have historically been limited in their procurement opportunities.
More than 4,500 suppliers globally are engaged in Project Gigaton, and as of 2021, those suppliers report having reduced or avoided a cumulative 574 million metric tons of carbon emissions since 2017 by adopting various sustainability strategies.
“It is very exciting to see these companies come together with their collective purchasing power to bring clean energy to market and take actionable steps toward reducing their carbon emissions,” said Jane Ewing, SVP of sustainability at Walmart, in a statement. “We developed Project Gigaton™ to help accelerate our suppliers’ zero-emissions efforts and the Gigaton PPA program is a key example of how we are making progress by harnessing the collective to make renewable energy more accessible to more companies.”
Ørsted aspires to create its own carbon-neutral supply chain by 2040, recently extending its renewable electricity target to all its suppliers.
“Ørsted welcomes the opportunity to work with Walmart suppliers participating in Project Gigaton and Schneider Electric on this unique initiative, which sets the standard for helping companies achieve a sustainable supply chain,” said Ben Pratt, VP and head of markets and revenue at Ørsted, in a statement. “This effort aligns with Ørsted’s own net-zero by 2040 supply chain initiative–we understand firsthand that in the realm of decarbonization there are no competitors, only partners.”
Schneider Electric is the Gigaton PPA program manager and advised program participants throughout the PPA procurement and negotiation process. The company has its own ambitious commitment to half the emissions of its top 1,000 suppliers by 2025.
“It has been our pleasure to work with Walmart, its suppliers, and Ørsted on this groundbreaking program,” said Steve Wilhite, president, Schneider Electric’s sustainability business, in a statement. “Decarbonization and the transition of our energy system to more sustainable and resilient forms of power generation is a critical challenge for companies today. We applaud these companies for coming together to find common ground and develop solutions that will have industry-leading impact.”
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