The agreement contributes to Visa’s commitment to reduce the carbon impact of its global operations and to support renewable energy generation in Virginia. Visa’s largest data centre is located in Virginia and accounts for over one third of the company’s global electricity usage.
In January 2020, Visa announced completion of its goal to transition to 100 percent renewable electricity for its offices and data centres through a combination of enrolments in utility and other renewable programmes and the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs), in accordance with the guidelines of the global RE100 initiative. The agreement announced today signals the next phase for Visa advancing its sustainability priorities, which includes supporting additional renewable electricity capacity to the grid. It also deepens the company’s commitment and investment in Virginia by supporting the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which is expected to create nearly 30,000 new solar jobs in the commonwealth by 2030.
“Promoting sustainable ways of doing business to combat climate change is a key part of our sustainability strategy” said Douglas Sabo, chief sustainability officer, Visa. “The agreement with MP2 Energy contributes to Visa’s climate action agenda, supports new renewable energy generation across the commonwealth of Virginia, and contributes to a positive impact on the environment and local economic development.”
The agreement with MP2 Energy supports renewable electricity generation coming online to the grid from new solar projects, from which MP2 Energy will procure renewable electricity, which Visa expects to begin using in February 2023. The electricity generated by the projects and Visa’s purchase of associated project RECs will replace a portion of Visa’s purchases of RECs, which the company made to help reach its commitment to transition to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2020. Visa’s agreement supports the expansion of new solar generation within the commonwealth’s grid. Specifically, the RECs associated with the renewable power for this agreement will come from NextEnergy Capital Virginia’s Briel Farm and Gardy’s Mill solar assets and Caden Energix’s solar assets Hickory, Rives Road and Pamplin.
Visa’s global commitment to sustainability and reducing the environmental footprint of its operations are components of the company’s commitment to leading environmental, social and governance (ESG) best practices.
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