Carlton & United Breweries’ plan to be 100 per cent renewable powered by the end of 2018 have been all but fulfilled, after Australia’s biggest brewer began sourcing electricity from the 112MW Karadoc solar farm, recently completed by German company BayWa.
CUB signed a 12 year power purchase agreement with BayWa in March to buy less than half of the output of the solar farm in Mildura, Victoria, to account for nearly 90 per cent of its total electricity needs.
The remaining 10 per cent will be met – soon, according to CUB – with rooftop solar installed at the company’s Australian breweries.
The PPA provides 74,000 MWh a year – enough to power 7,500 homes – from Karadoc, which achieved full energisation in November, after being built for BayWa by Melbourne-based Beon Energy Solutions.
As we wrote at the time, the move by CUB has been part of a global push by its owner Anheuser-Busch In-Bev, to aim for 100 per cent renewable energy for its entire operations by 2025.
But it is also part of a broader movement by a growing list of businesses, including major manufacturers and large energy users in Australia and overseas, to turn to wind and solar to lock in low electricity costs.
“This is an important step towards achieving our commitment to source 100 per cent of our electricity from renewables,” said CUB’s Business Unit President, Peter Filipovic in comments on Wednesday.
“Everyone has a responsibility to play their part to tackle climate change. CUB is no different,” he said.
“The investment also stacks up when you look at the reduced price we will be paying to power our operations. Moving to renewable energy will ensure that we have certainty of supply and pricing.”
Matthias Taft, a board member ofBayWa said the commencement of the solar power supply deal with CUB was also a great milestone for the Germany company in Australia.
“Since entering the market in 2016, we have become active in solar and wind development as well as the solar installer wholesaler market,” he said.
“With Karadoc coming online, the partnership we have with CUB is a great example of how corporations are taking an active lead in driving the renewable transition in Australia.
“We are delighted to be playing our part in supporting CUB in realising its renewable energy goals.”
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
