Leading brewing company AB InBev, the owner of beer brands like Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois and Leffe, is opening a Solar Farm that will enable its beverages to be brewed with 100% renewable energy across Western Europe.
Following the opening of the solar park near Granada, southern Spain, the project is now one of the largest cross-border energy deals in Europe to date, which will see a range of popular beers be brewed sustainably.
AB InBev has joined forces with two leading European companies BayWa r.e. and Verbund, in a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) that will take a major step in its energy transition.
Generating green electricity for the world’s leading brewer, the solar farm in Pinos Puente is “an example for a joint and sustainable way forward,” the brewing company said.
The 161-hectare Solar Park Pinos Puente will generate approximately 260 gigawatt hours (GWh) of emission-free electricity per year with an estimated total capacity of 147.6 megawatts peak (MWp).
According to the leading brewing company, this is enough electricity to brew over 10 billion beers per year, or enable an electric car to drive around the whole of Europe 1.2 million times.
The 10-year VPPA deal made between AB InBev and BayWa r.e., which covers 14 of its breweries in Western Europe and more than 50 brands across 12 countries, forms part of one of the largest European corporate solar power deals in history.
The deal will also play an instrumental role in supporting the brewer’s 2025 Climate Action goal and its ambition to achieve net zero across its full value chain by 2040.
“With a global energy crisis and the growing impact of climate change keenly felt across much of Europe this Summer, we are focused to be building climate resilience and driving forward our push towards decarbonisation,” VP of procurement and sustainability at AB InBev, Erik Novaes said.
Also commenting on the new solar farm is BayWa r.e CEO Matthias Taft, who said: “We are simultaneously experiencing a global climate and energy crises. Addressed together, we have an opportunity to propel forward the renewable transition, increase energy security and transform energy markets.
“To do this, we must realise many more renewable projects and sign many more PPAs. Great projects and collaborations like this show the way forward.”
