02/25/2021

Green Investment Group arranges physical Power Purchase Agreement for Danone companies in Poland

Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) has signed an agreement with Danone companies in Poland to supply renewable energy through a 10-year physical power purchase agreement (PPA). The power will be provided by GIG’s Jozwin wind farm, which was acquired by the business last year.

This PPA will support Danone’s current decarbonisation goals – as their Polish operations currently make up 6% of the business’ total energy usage around the world – by delivering power to the business’ seven production plants in the South of the country.

Danone has operated in Poland since 1992 and employs over 3,000 people across the country, with a further 7,665 jobs supported indirectly. Danone is part of RE100 — a collection of the companies that have committed to using 100% renewable electricity. Danone’s commitment is to reach 100% of renewable electricity by 2030. At the end of 2020, Danone exceeded its previous target of 50% by 2020, getting 54.3% of its electricity from renewable sources.

Route to Market and balancing services will be provided by Axpo Polska, with Axpo also acting as the intermediary with Danone, who will use Axpo as their licenced electricity provider.

"This agreement shows our ability to work in partnership with our customers, in this case Danone, to develop bespoke solutions under challenging market conditions. Having understood Danone’s specific needs, GIG in partnership with Axpo, has created and delivered a solution that meets Danone’s energy and carbon reduction ambitions in a cost-effective manner,” said Edward Northam, Head of GIG Europe.

"All Danone companies are joined by the dual commitment to sustainable economic and social development and the Danone frame of actions “One Planet. One Health.”. We consider ourselves lucky to find partners who help us turn this vision into action. So far, Danone has achieved 54.3% renewable electricity. Danone is committed to having green electricity physically delivered to our sites in the countries where we operate,” said Cyndi Kohuska, Global Sourcing Manager Energy & Utility, Danone.

GIG has now supported 18 corporates secure PPAs for over 3 GW of renewable energy capacity. The PPA team are currently active in Europe, America, Asia and Australia – and have put in place agreements in 8 markets. Including its activity in Poland, GIG is active in 12 countries across Europe, and over 25 countries globally. In its 2020 Progress Report, GIG announced that it had committed or arranged £2.9bn to support green energy projects and currently has over 250 projects in development and construction.