With our technologies turning the wheels of more than half the cars on the road today, we understand the important role we play in supporting the decarbonisation of the automotive sector, and are committed to delivering on our purpose – to drive a cleaner, more sustainable world.
We have embedded sustainability across our entire global operations, with an SBTi-approved pathway to be net-zero across our value chain by 2045. In order to achieve this, we’re continually assessing the sustainability of our operations around the world to determine where we can further accelerate our progress.
We recently signed our first Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA), marking a significant milestone towards decarbonising our electricity usage. This first VPPA is a major step towards decarbonising our electricity usage, bringing us closer to our target of achieving 50% renewable electricity usage globally by 2025, and 75% by 2030.
What is a VPPA?
VPPAs are mutually beneficial contracts whereby organisations and renewable energy developers enter into long-term agreements that provide financial support and security to energy developers to ensure they can expand their renewable energy supply – often by constructing new energy projects altogether. These agreements enable us to directly influence the mix of electricity supplied national grids and help to secure the wider use of cleaner, renewably sourced energy.
What agreement have we signed?
We have signed a VPPA with global renewable energy developer, Recurrent Energy, which will facilitate the supply of approximately 2 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable electricity to the European grid over a 10-year period. The agreement will cover 65% of our European electricity load, and 30% of our global load.
This agreement will see the establishment of the ‘Rey I’ project – a new large-scale solar farm in Spain which will contribute towards the increased supply of renewable electricity to the Spanish grid, while supporting the decarbonisation of the wider European grid.
As we continue to expand our renewable energy usage, we are actively pursuing further VPPAs across Europe and South America to accelerate the decarbonisation of our global operations.
For more information on how we’re driving a cleaner, more sustainable world, visit our sustainability page, here.