Walmart Invests in Nearly 1 GW of New Clean Energy Projects Across the U.S.
Retail giant Walmart announced today a series of new clean energy investments and purchase agreements, aimed at adding nearly 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity across the U.S.
The new commitments follow the announcement by Walmart in January of plans to accelerate its energy transformation strategy, with an ambition to enable as much as 10 GW of new clean energy projects by the end of 2030. Walmart currently powers nearly half of its operations with renewable energy, and has set a goal to reach 100% renewable energy for its facilities by 2035.
In a post announcing the new investments, Walmart Senior Vice President, Energy Transformation, Vishal Kapadia said that the company’s approach to its clean energy commitments includes “identifying high impact, high quality projects that drive positive outcomes.”
Kapadia added:
“These projects are expected to expand access to clean energy, drive new tax revenue to communities, create local jobs and in the case of community solar initiatives, offer direct benefits to Walmart’s customers, members and local communities by helping them save money on energy costs.”
The new commitments include long-term renewable energy purchase agreements for projects being developed by providers including NextEra Energy Resources, EDP Renewable North America and Invenergy, anticipated to add 842 MW of capacity to the grid in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Walmart also announced investments in 26 community solar and distributed generation portfolios, developed by Pivot Energy and Reactivate, producing 70 MW of clean energy across six states, and anticipated to provide enough electricity to support community solar subscriptions for approximately 13,000 residential households. The company said that the community solar projects are expected to enable roughly $8 million in annual savings on energy bills for households and commercial off-takers, including $6 million benefiting low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities.
In addition, the company announced that it has executed clean energy agreements directly with utilities, adding 77 MW of capacity in Louisiana, Michigan and Texas.
Kapadia said:
“An energy system that thrives on emissions-free energy, helps people save money and enables energy resilience for our domestic grid is good for everyone – our business, customers and members, communities and, of course, our planet. Walmart will continue to seek out investments that allow us to expand clean energy capacity and help customers and communities save money and live better, contributing to a more sustainable future.”