Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev sets global renewable electricity goal by 2025

World’s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev SA – parent to brands including Budweiser, Corona, Rolling Rock, Michelob, and Stella Artois – has committed to sourcing its electricity entirely from renewable sources by 2025.  The move would make AB InBev the largest corporate direct purchaser of renewable electricity in the global consumer goods sector.

AB InBev makes 30% of the world’s beer, operating breweries in 50 countries. Collectively, these facilities consume 6 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, of which 7% is currently renewable-sourced.  According to a March 28 press release, changing to 100% renewable electricity will reduce the company's carbon footprint by 30%, an estimated reduction of about 2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

While many multinational companies “invest” in renewables by buying renewable energy credits or certificates known as "RECs", AB InBev’s plan involves no REC-buying. The company reportedly intends to obtain 75 to 85 percent of its electricity through direct power purchases under a power purchase agreement or similar commercial arrangement, with remaining 15 to 25 percent coming from on-site distributed generation installations at its facilities, like solar panels. The company has committed to producing the energy in the country in which it is to be consumed.

Sourcing renewable energy is relatively easier in some countries, like Mexico. AB InBev announced that its largest facility, a Grupo Modelo brewery, had signed contracts to get all its electricity from wind power, including 220 MW to be built by Iberdrola SA in Puebla. Those new wind projects alone, destined to supply the brewery, represent a 5% increase to Mexico's renewable energy capacity. But in other countries, most notably in Africa, a lack of markets and infrastructure to connect industrial consumers with renewable energy may prove challenging. Also worth noting is that the company's commitment relates to electricity, and not directly to fuels or heat required for beer production and distribution. 

Nevertheless, Anheuser-Busch InBev's commitment to sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2025 across its global portfolio of facilities represents another data point in the trend of corporate direct investment in renewable energy.  Corporations including Apple, Google, and Amazon have made a variety of commitments relating to renewable electricity, citing benefits ranging from environmental sustainability to locking in power pricing.

Electricity and Super Bowl XLVIII: Will the lights stay on?

Fans will soon pack MetLife Stadium for Super Bowl XLVII.  The National Football League's 2013-2014 season championship game will be held on February 2 at 6:30 PM (Eastern). Following the power outage during last year's Super Bowl, organizers of this year's event are taking extra precautions to avoid disruptions to the East Rutherford, New Jersey stadium's electricity supply.  At the same time, organizers are promoting the environmental aspects of the power supply for this year's game.

During Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, a power outage moments after the beginning of the second half of play caused many of the stadium lights and systems to go dark.  Between restoring power supply, rebooting computer systems, and letting stadium lighting cool and return to full power, it took 34 minutes for play to resume.  Subsequent investigation revealed that the outage occurred when load-monitoring equipment had opened a breaker after detecting an abnormality in the system.

Organizers hope this year's championship is free from such disruption.  MetLife Stadium and the rest of the Meadowlands Sports Complex is served by utility Public Service Electric & Gas Co. or PSE&G.  Two power lines feed into the substation serving the complex, and on-site generators add additional capacity.  PSE&G has been reported as expecting the game to draw as much as 20 megawatts of power, and the utility, NFL, and stadium owner have collaborated on measures and testing to ensure continuity of service during the big game.

Meanwhile, PSE&G's parent PSEG has partnered with the NFL Environmental Program to source renewable energy for the game.  PSEG has agreed to purchase and retire a renewable energy credit, or REC, for every megawatt-hour of electricity used at the stadium, the AFC and NFC team hotels, and Super Bowl in Times Square.  240 solar RECs are slated to come from PSE&G's nearby 3-megawatt Kearny solar farm, as well as 5,700 additional RECs from the 7.5-megawatt Jersey Atlantic Wind Farm near Atlantic City.

Beyond electricity, event organizers have committed that all the waste oil generated from food production during the game will be processed into biodiesel fuel by Tri-State Biodiesel, and that all other food waste will be composted.

Presumably, most fans' attention will be focused on the game.  Will the organizers' measures prevent power outages in an environmentally friendly manner?

Community-based renewable energy in Maine

An innovative program in Maine seeks to facilitate the development of community-based renewable energy projects.  The program offers significant incentives for the development of qualified electric generation projects of up to 10 MW in size.

In 2009, the Maine legislature enacted a law establishing the Community-Based Renewable Energy Pilot Program to encourage the sustainable development of community-based renewable energy.  By community-based, Maine's program targets locally-owned community-scale projects (as opposed to large-scale renewable projects owned primarily by out-of-state entities).

Under the program, qualified renewable energy projects can receive significant incentives including a long-term contract to sell the facility’s output to a Maine transmission and distribution utility for up to 20 years at average prices up to $100 per MWh (equivalent to 10¢ per kWh). This incentive is attractive because not only can the contract prices be above average market prices, but also the long-term power purchase agreement makes projects easier to finance by enhancing revenue certainty.

Eligible projects can apply to the Maine Public Utilities Commission for certification as community-based renewable energy projects. This process involves making public filings, negotiating with Commission staff, and demonstrating that the project meets the program’s qualification requirements. These include restrictions on resource type, nameplate capacity, and ownership.

Under the pilot program, eligible resources include:

• fuel cells
• tidal power
• solar energy
• wind systems
• geothermal systems
• hydroelectric generators
• generators fueled by landfill gas
• biomass generators whose fuel includes anaerobic digestion of agricultural products, byproducts or wastes.

Each individual project must not exceed 10 MW in nameplate capacity. Projects must also be primarily locally owned, meaning that 51% or more of the facility must be owned by Maine residents, governmental entities, businesses, or other qualifying local owners.

Once certified, a qualified project can choose either of two incentives: a long-term contract for the output of the facility with a transmission and distribution utility, or a renewable energy credit (REC) multiplier giving a 50% bonus in the amount of RECs produced.

To date, most have viewed the long-term contract as the more attractive option. Under this incentive, projects meeting the program’s requirements can obtain a contract at a fixed or variable price, provided that two criteria are met. First, the average price per kilowatt-hour must not exceed 10 cents. Second, the cost of the contract must not exceed the cost of the project plus a reasonable rate of return on investment as determined by the Commission. These contracts may be approved for up to 20 year terms.  Projects smaller than 1 MW can contract directly with the utility, while larger projects go through a competitive process held periodically by the Commission.

What will 2012 bring for Maine's community-based renewable energy pilot program?