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Clean Energy Procurement Soars to 100x Increase in 10 Years
2022-11-30
In 2022, a record number of US corporations committed to purchasing almost 20GW of clean energy, an increase of 4GW from the prior year. Driving this surge in procurement were environmental and economic benefits, as well as the growing pressure to meet sustainability targets. This represents a dramatic 100-fold increase in corporate clean power procurements over the last decade according to interim CEO JC Sandberg and chief strategy officer at American Clean Power Association (ACP).
Amongst these purchases, solar contracts totaled 14.46GW while onshore wind deals reached 4GW - a 25% jump from 2021 which ended a three-year decrease. The majority of these procurements were secured through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs); with 80% of contracted capacity coming from this offtake method. Hybrid projects with storage, mostly solar plus storage, have seen rapid growth. The report also found that 1.3GW of solar plus storage deals were announced in 2022 - substantially more than the 548MW of wind-plus-storage contracts.
At the end of 2022, leading technology firms such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google had contracted for a total 77.4GW of clean energy including 45.05GW of solar and 28.83GW of onshore wind capacity; with an additional 974MW from battery storage systems. While these signings are encouraging, national average corporate PPA prices for both wind and solar saw increases in cost year-on-year - up 37% to $49.66/MWh for wind and 30% to $42.21/MWh for solar.
Despite this, Sandberg was optimistic citing the steep decrease in costs of both solar and wind energy over the past decade which has made them more attractive options for corporations seeking clean power. This trend is set to continue as companies look towards their renewable energy commitments for a decarbonized future.
In 2022, a record number of US corporations committed to purchasing almost 20GW of clean energy, an increase of 4GW from the prior year. Driving this surge in procurement were environmental and economic benefits, as well as the growing pressure to meet sustainability targets. This represents a dramatic 100-fold increase in corporate clean power procurements over the last decade according to interim CEO JC Sandberg and chief strategy officer at American Clean Power Association (ACP).
Amongst these purchases, solar contracts totaled 14.46GW while onshore wind deals reached 4GW - a 25% jump from 2021 which ended a three-year decrease. The majority of these procurements were secured through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs); with 80% of contracted capacity coming from this offtake method. Hybrid projects with storage, mostly solar plus storage, have seen rapid growth. The report also found that 1.3GW of solar plus storage deals were announced in 2022 - substantially more than the 548MW of wind-plus-storage contracts.
At the end of 2022, leading technology firms such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google had contracted for a total 77.4GW of clean energy including 45.05GW of solar and 28.83GW of onshore wind capacity; with an additional 974MW from battery storage systems. While these signings are encouraging, national average corporate PPA prices for both wind and solar saw increases in cost year-on-year - up 37% to $49.66/MWh for wind and 30% to $42.21/MWh for solar.
Despite this, Sandberg was optimistic citing the steep decrease in costs of both solar and wind energy over the past decade which has made them more attractive options for corporations seeking clean power. This trend is set to continue as companies look towards their renewable energy commitments for a decarbonized future.