NextEra Energy, the largest producer of electricity in the U.S., announced today the launch of Real Zero, a new sustainability goal to eliminate carbon emissions from its operations. With the plan going beyond net zero, achieving its emissions elimination without the use of carbon offsets, the new commitment is the most ambitious goal set by a U.S. energy provider, according to the company.

To achieve its goals, NextEra Energy has developed Zero Carbon Blueprint, a carbon-emissions-reduction plan, enabling the company to decarbonize, while helping the power sector and clients cut and eliminate the emissions from their operations. The company also aims to help lead the decarbonization of the U.S. economy by increasing low-cost deployment of renewable energy.

John Ketchum, President, and Chief Executive Officer, NextEra Energy, said:

“Attaining Real Zero will be one of those achievements that provides lasting value to our customers and the communities where we do business. We’ve been working on this for a long time and will take our extensive experience, industry-leading development platform and scale to help accelerate the decarbonization of the U.S. economy.”

NextEra Energy stated that it plans to use its Zero Carbon Blueprint to reduce emissions along three parallel paths. The first path features the plan to eliminate carbon emissions that excludes the need for carbon offsets, from its operations by 2045. The second path includes plans to help decarbonize more of the U.S. power sector through investments in wind, solar, battery storage, green hydrogen, and other renewable energy development, and the third features plans for the company to become the preferred partner for customers to help them reduce or eliminate carbon emissions in their own operations.

The company will follow interim milestones every five years to transform its power generation mix to produce electricity from zero-carbon emissions resources. The emissions reduction rate the company plans to achieve is 70% by 2025, exceeding its previous commitment, 82% by 2030, 87% by 2035, and 94% by 2040 before striving to achieve Real Zero by no later than 2045.

Ketchum added:

“We’ve worked hard in developing Real Zero to ensure we have a credible technical pathway to achieve our goals and well-defined milestones every five years so we and all stakeholders can track our progress. We’re part of an industry that is well-positioned to make the most progress in the elimination of carbon emissions and Real Zero is NextEra Energy’s goal to set a new standard for all power generators.”

According to the company, a significant part of its plan to eliminate carbon emissions is focused on its principal subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), the US’ largest electric utility. As part of Real Zero, FPL aims to accelerate the transformation of its generation mix, reaching 36% decarbonized by 2025, 52% by 2030, 62% by 2035, and 83% by 2040, and 100% by no later than 2045.

Eric Silagy, Chairman and CEO of FPL, said:

 “This isn’t a plan to plant trees or purchase offsets, but rather would be a complete elimination of our incremental carbon emissions in Florida to the benefit of our customers, a clean environment, and the state’s growing economy.”

NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy has also outlined key steps to reach Real Zero, including a plan to support investor-owned utilities, municipalities, and co-operative electric companies with their transition to zero-carbon emissions, delivering clean energy solutions to sectors outside power, and investing in transmission opportunities to support decarbonization.

Rebecca Kujawa, President and Chief Executive Officer, NextEra Energy Resources, said:

“NextEra Energy Resources has been a leader in providing clean, low-cost renewable energy for decades, and as part of our Zero Carbon Blueprint plan, we intend to significantly expand our renewables deployment to the benefit of customers in every sector.”