In addition to its direct investment, Nestlé will purchase 100% of the renewable electricity attributes generated by the project’s energy production, estimated to be 750,000 megawatt hours per year for 15 years. This renewable energy will help the company reduce carbon emissions while making household favorites like DiGiorno® pizza. The carbon emission reduction (530,280 metric tons of CO2) is equivalent to the emissions of making 4 billion DiGiorno® pizzas per year.
“Nestlé’s investment in Taygete I is an important milestone on our journey to achieve net zero by 2050. This is an aggressive goal, and to achieve it we are innovating across our company, from the ingredients we use, to the packaging that keeps our food and beverages safe, to how we make and transport our products,” said Jim Wells, Chief Supply Chain Officer for Nestlé USA. “We are proud that our investment will expand the availability of renewable energy, adding enough solar electricity to the U.S. grid to power 90,000 homes each year. Also, with this step, we continue to be on track for a 35% GHG emissions reduction per tonne of product in our U.S. manufacturing facilities by the end of 2020.”
This announcement follows Nestle’s unveiling of its detailed, time-bound plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions last week. The phased approach aims to halve the company’s emissions by 2030 and realize net zero by 2050. To accomplish this, Nestlé will accelerate current initiatives, evolve its operations, and uncover ways to balance remaining emissions through high-quality carbon removal projects or innovation. Nestlé is a signatory of the UN ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ pledge,’ and is one of the first companies to share its detailed plan.
