Preclinical and clinical laboratory services firm Charles River Laboratories International signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Spanish energy and petrochemical firm Repsol for 30.5 MW of renewable energy.
The renewable energy will be provided from a wind farm from Repsol's Delta II project in the Aragon region of Spain. This project is under construction and will have 860 MW of total capacity once completed in 2023. The project will comprise 26 wind farms.
This VPPA is the second of Charles River Laboratories International’s sustainability announcements related to renewable electricity. In June 2021, the firm had signed a solar contract for its power requirements for North America.
Both the VPPAs are expected to supply 90% of Charles River Laboratories’ global electricity requirements by 2023. A VPPA allows for investment in the renewable project, even if the wind-generated energy doesn't go directly to the contracted customer.
Schneider Electric is the leading advisor on the corporate renewable energy procurement.
Gregg Belardo, Senior Director of EHS & Sustainability at Charles River, said, “Charles River has continued to drive down our Scope 1 and 2 GHG reductions toward our goal of a 50% reduction on an absolute basis by 2030, achieving a 26% reduction from 2018 to 2020. This European VPPA will move us significantly closer to meeting our overall goal of a 50% reduction by 2030.”
Repsol’s Executive Director of Low Carbon Generation João Costeira said, “This agreement marks yet another example of Repsol's continued development of its low-carbon generation business with assets that deliver both quality and profitability for partners and investors such as Charles River, which secures the corresponding benefits of powering its facilities with renewable energy.”
