Orange Advances Progress Towards Renewable Energy Goals with Large-scale PPA with Total
Telecom giant Orange announced today that it has entered a renewable energy Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with energy company Total’s France-focused renewables subsidiary Total Quadran, for the supply of 100 GWh a year of renewable electricity over a period of 20 years.
The deal marks a significant step for Orange towards reaching its sustainability goals. In December 2019, Orange presented its strategic plan, Engage 2025, which included significant sustainability commitments, including a target to reach a net zero carbon footprint by 2040. Reaching the commitments outlined in Engage 2025 will require a significant increase in the use of renewable power, which Orange estimates will reach 50% of the company’s power usage by 2025.
The announcement follows other recent renewable energy deals Orange has signed with energy providers including ENGIE and Boralex.
Fabienne Dulac, Deputy CEO of Orange and CEO of Orange France, said:
“Orange has made the reduction of its environmental footprint a major strategic focus with the ambition to be Net Zero Carbon by 2040 at Group level. By signing this contract with Total, Orange is acting in line with its objectives, which is to reduce its direct CO2 emissions by 30% compared with 2015 and to integrate 50% renewable energies into its electricity mix by 2025. We are proud to sign a third PPA with a French company and with a player of the scale of Total, which is voluntarily committed to the development of new means of production of renewable energy in the region.”
According to the companies, the new CPPA will enable the development, by 2024, of a dozen new solar power plants spread throughout metropolitan France, with a cumulative capacity of 80 MW.
Stéphane Michel, President Gas, Renewables & Power at Total, said:
“By signing with Orange one of the largest Corporate PPA in France to date, Total is asserting itself as a strategic supplier of renewable electricity. This is a new step in the implementation of our profitable growth strategy in renewable energies. We want to support large industrial consumers in their energy transition towards carbon neutrality. Our ambition is therefore to develop renewable electricity purchase contracts with corporate customers through projects from our development portfolio in France.”