European corporate renewable power deals hit a record 3GW in 2020 as the sourcing of clean energy maintained its growth path despite Covid disruption, latest industry data revealed.

The latest annual growth, bringing cumulative corporate renewable PPAs in Europe to 11GW, was revealed as the RE-Source 2020 event got underway digitally.

Greater penetration of corporate renewables is crucial if the EU is to meet its stretching climate and energy goals, said industry leaders who welcomed the progress in a year of market disruption from the pandemic.

Wind and solar have hailed the arrival of new sectors beyond the technology giants that were the early pioneers of renewable sourcing, with heavy industries and pharmaceuticals now striking large deals such as Bayer's signing of an agreement for Spanish PV output as recently as last month.

Giles Dickson, WindEurope CEO said: “Energy-intensive industries used not to like renewables. Now they're knocking on our doors to help them decarbonise.

“They see renewables are cheap and increasingly reliable. And they see that corporate PPAs help them lock in their energy costs. So we’re seeing more and more PPAs, even this year.”

Dickson’s counterpart at SolarPower Europe, Walburga Hemetsberger, added: “This difficult year has shown the strength and resilience of renewables, and despite market contractions in many sectors, corporate PPAs have continued their rapid growth in Europe.

“Future-looking businesses can help usher in a new era of energy sourcing and contribute to the EU’s plan to reach climate neutrality by 2050.”

Despite the progress to 11GW – up from 2.2GW at the end of 2016 – members of the RE-Source platform want the removal of regulatory barriers at EU and national level to spur greater growth, as well as “a robust system for certification and tracking of renewable-based electricity to increase investment, transparency levels and the information contained in guarantees of origin”.

Transition

'They're knocking on our doors': record year for European corporate green energy deals