Syngenta has signed a five-year virtual power purchase agreement with green energy solutions provider Statkraft, which will cover Syngenta’s crop protection and seeds operations in Europe.
The agreement, which runs to 2040, covers a volume of 125 GWh per year, amounting to a total of 625 GWh of green electricity over the five-year period.
Decarbonisation strategy
“This is Syngenta’s first vPPA, marking a pivotal step in our decarbonisation strategy,” commented Rachel Stenson Bugnon, global head CP sourcing at Syngenta. “This tailored approach allows us to make meaningful progress toward our carbon reduction targets for Syngenta AG while maintaining operational efficiency across our European facilities.”
As part of the agreement, Statkraft will provide a virtual power purchase structure based on electricity generated from onshore wind assets in Germany. Rather than providing physical electricity flow to Syngenta’s sites, it is a financial arrangement linked to electricity market prices, with Syngenta receiving guarantees of origin for the agreed volume.
According to Syngenta, the advantage of this initiative is that it enables the agricultural firm to pursue its sustainability goals without having to change its operational processes or contracts with its energy supplier.
Tailor-made solution
“VPPAs are also becoming increasingly important in Germany,” added Sascha Schröder, vice president central European origination at Statkraft. “We are delighted to support Syngenta with this tailor-made PPA solution to decarbonise its production.
“We are building a bridge between operators of wind farms that are no longer eligible for subsidies, who typically prefer short delivery terms, and companies seeking long-term green power procurement that integrates smoothly into their established sourcing strategy.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Syngenta will obtain the certificates of origin for the agreed electricity volume, with the company also noting that it is helping to support the continued operation of wind facilities ‘that would otherwise face economic uncertainty after government subsidy expiration’. Read more here.
