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    Huhtamaki signs 12-year Renewable VPPA for North American packaging operations

    Feb. 28, 2022
    The 42-MW agreement will cover 30% of the electricity demand at its 18 manufacturing units in the US and Mexico. The agreement builds on its European VPPA, which covers 80% of the firm’s European electricity usage
    Image credit Huhtamaki
    Huhtamai Cup Manu 621cdcdacc94b

    Finland-based packaging firm Huhtamaki has signed a 12-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement with a NextEra Energy Resources’ subsidiary in the US to cover 30% of its electricity usage in North America.

    The 42-MW agreement will cover 30% of the electricity demand at its 18 manufacturing units in the US and Mexico. The agreement builds on its European VPPA, which covers 80% of the firm’s European electricity usage.

    Huhtamaki Deputy CEO Thomas Geust said, “This agreement marks an important milestone on our journey towards delivering on our ambitious 2030 sustainability agenda.”

    Huhtamaki aims to reduce electricity GHG emissions by 27.5% by 2030. It also plans on reducing GHG emissions from its product end-of-life by 13.5% by 2030. The firm will have to address its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to achieve this target.

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    “We have already taken a series of pioneering steps on our journey to a sustainable future, with the intent to reach carbon-neutral production by 2030 while optimizing usage of resources, including energy, water, and waste. The VPPA enables us to make a significant leap forward in delivering on our ambitious sustainability agenda and Scope 2 emissions reduction target in line with our science-based targets. It also contributes to adding more green electricity into the U.S. energy mix”, added Thomasine Kamerling EVP Sustainability and Communications.

    Under the latest agreement, the renewable energy will be sourced from the Inertia Wind Energy Center in the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) North Zone. The 300 MW project is expected to be operational by the end of 2022 and reduce over 71,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.

    In virtual PPAs, customers don't receive the renewable energy directly, but that investment helps pay for low or no-carbon projects generated into the grid and offsets the company's more carbon-intensive emissions.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.