Monday 18 November 2019

Estée Lauder sees beauty in virtual wind power PPA

The Estée Lauder Companies has signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for electricity produced from a wind farm in the US, adding renewable energy to the grid in Oklahoma.

The deal to buy power produced by the 22MW Ponderosa wind farm, which will be owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, is said to be the beauty products company’s largest renewable energy contract globally.

The wind farm will cover more than half of the company’s global electricity footprint with renewable technology, putting it on track to meet its 2020 net zero carbon emissions RE100 commitment.

The Estée Lauder Companies announced it has already achieved 100% renewable electricity in the US and Canada ahead of schedule and pledged to set a science-based target covering Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by the end of 2020.

Its renewable energy portfolio also includes a 1MW solar system at its Whitman Laboratories in the UK and a 1.4MW ground-mounted solar array recently built at its Melville campus in New York.

Nancy Mahon, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability of The Estée Lauder Companies said: “The Estée Lauder Companies is committed to innovating to help achieve a low carbon future. We’re so pleased to meet our 2020 RE100 commitment for North America early.

“Projects like the Ponderosa wind farm and others in our net zero portfolio are all significant achievements toward our commitments to address climate change.”