Budweiser beer will be brewed using 100% renewable electricity after what’s being billed as the biggest ever pan-European corporate solar power deal.
Brewing giant AB InBev said the beer will be all-renewable in Europe after a 10-year virtual power purchase agreement with developer BayWa r.e. The German group will build two PV plants in Spain – one called the Budwesier Solar Farm – to fulfil the contract, with the brewer taking power from 130MW of a total 200MW developed by early 2022.
The brewer said its operations in Europe churn out 260 million bottles of Budweiser annually.
AB InBev will back up the solar credentials of its beer by adding a renewable energy symbol already rolling out in the UK and US, which it hopes will encourage drinkers to favour drinks brewed with the help of clean power sources.
Budweiser was last year the subject of one of the biggest corporate solar deals seen in the US when it bought output from 310MW of Texas PV.
BayWa r.e CEO Matthias Taft said: “Corporations are the new driving force in [the energy] transition and, within the retail sector, it means consumers can help play a part in combatting climate change through the buying decisions they make.”
The Budeweiser deal adds to growing momentum behind corporate renewable PPAs in Europe. A recent study by law firm DLA Piper said increased pressure on corporations over their green credentials and a phase-out of government incentives sent the number of renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) in Europe soaring more than tenfold in six years.