AB InBev to brew beer with renewable electricity in Europe
Budweiser - which is now AB InBev's biggest brand in Europe - will start using an '100% renewable electricity' symbol on its beer once the transition is made.
Budweiser Solar Farm
The 10-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) will see power supplied from two new Spanish solar farms with a combined power output of almost 200 megawatts; of which AB InBev will be supplied with over 130 megawatts.
One of these will be called the Budweiser Solar Farm, which will provide 250 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity per year.
Over the duration of the PPA, this is the equivalent of powering almost 670,000 homes.
The farms will start powering AB InBev’s brewing by March, 2022. In the interim, BayWa r.e. will provide AB InBev with 75 gigawatt hours of wind power.
AB InBev’s European brewing operations produce over 55 million kegs of beer each year and around five million bottles of Budweiser each week. The renewable electricity deal will cover production in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the Canary Islands, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark (Russia and the UK already have separate renewable electricity agreements).
Once Budweiser makes the shift to renewable electricity, the brand will feature a ‘100% renewable electricity’ symbol on pack. The symbol is already being used on the brand in the US and UK. It will also allow other businesses to use this symbol.
Jason Warner, Zone President for Europe at AB InBev, said: “As we welcome the new European Green Deal, we now ask our consumers, customers, colleagues, business partners and fellow companies to join us in shifting towards renewable power – we are making our 100% renewable electricity symbol available for any brands that are produced with renewables.
"This symbol is about driving positive change in what people buy in their weekly shop, order at the bar or drink with friends.”
AB InBev has committed that all purchased electricity will come from renewable sources by 2025. The company says it is making progress in shifting to renewable electricity in operations around the world, including in the UK, Russia, Mexico, the US, Australia, China and India. This global commitment will make AB InBev the largest corporate buyer of renewable electricity in the consumer goods industry.
