A new power purchase agreement between Carlsberg and Better Energy means that the brewery will receive 29 GWh renewable and subsidy-free energy each year for the next decade. The green PPA is the main reason why Better Energy is building a new large solar park and a significant milestone in Carlsberg’s ambitious sustainability programme, Together Towards ZERO and Beyond.
Carlsberg has just signed a large Power Purchase Agreement with Better Energy, which ensures the construction of new green power production in the form of a new solar park of more than 70 hectares, corresponding to approximately 105 football fields.
Carlsberg's PPA directly affects two goals from the brewery's new ambitious sustainability programme Together Towards ZERO and Beyond.
- By 2030, all electricity must be derived from renewable sources that contribute to new green power to the electricity grid, either through own generation or long-term power purchase agreements.
- By 2030, all breweries must be carbon neutral.
The green electricity will be consumed at their large brewery in Fredericia, and Peter Haahr Nielsen, CEO of Carlsberg Denmark, is pleased with the partnership that extends over a ten-year period:
“At Carlsberg, we have already taken several steps towards the green transition, but we can do more, and we are ambitious. Therefore, we are very pleased with the new agreement, which means that new, green power is produced that corresponds to the annual average power consumption of more than 46,000 Danes.”
Agreement with direct effect on the green transition
During the past year, Europe has seen an unprecedented rise in energy prices because of our dependence on fossil energy. However, after having received state subsidies for decades, renewable energy is now both significantly cheaper than fossil fuels and can be established without government support.
Companies can make a direct difference by buying new, green and subsidy-free energy that reduces carbon emissions and has a noticeable effect on the amount of green power in the electricity grid.
“Carlsberg has an extensive production in Denmark, and it is apparent that it should run on locally produced, new green energy. It is both imperative and forceful when grand ambitions for the green transition are followed up by concrete actions. Carlsberg has made an active choice to buy new green energy and has thus directly accelerated the green transition in Denmark and Europe,” says Rasmus Lildholdt Kjær, CEO of Better Energy.
For Carlsberg, the agreement represents an important milestone in the sustainability programme:
“The new power purchase agreement helps support our new sustainability program, Together Towards ZERO and Beyond, where we have expanded our already ambitious goals and added new ones. In addition, we are pleased to contribute to the transition to green energy in Denmark by adding more green electricity to the Danish electricity grid,” says Peter Haahr Nielsen.
The solar park is scheduled to be connected to the electricity grid in 2024. Better Energy owns and is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the coming park.
Carlsberg's new water recovery plant, which has made the brewery one of the world's most water-efficient breweries, also reduces the brewery's energy consumption by 10 percent through the production of biogas as a by-product and recirculation of hot water.
