(Photo Credit: Ball Corporation on Facebook)Ball Corporation signed two virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for renewable energy projects in Europe totaling 93.4 megawatts (MW) of wind energy. These deals are expected to help the aluminum packaging company lower emissions and reach its renewable energy goal in Europe.
One of the VPPAs is for the Corralnuevo project in Spain with developer Wpd, and the other is for the Brattmyrliden project in Sweden with Falck Renewables. Ball said the new agreements mean that the company can address approximately 63% of the European electricity load used for its aluminum beverage packaging plants with new renewable energy.
Both Corralnuevo and Brattmyrliden have been scheduled to come online in 2021. Ball anticipates that its share of these wind projects will generate nearly 308,000 megawatt hours of renewable electricity in Europe annually, an electricity load that equals approximately 10 beverage packaging plants, the company said.
“The wind developments in Spain and Sweden will collectively enable Ball to reduce its Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions generated in Europe by approximately 60% compared to 2019,” according to the company.
Kathleen Pitre, Ball Corporation’s chief commercial and sustainability officer, said that both projects allow the company to address a substantial portion of their European electricity use as well as accelerate progress toward science-based targets.
In April, Ball committed to reducing absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions 55% by 2030 from a 2017 base year through the Science Based Targets initiative. The company also committed to reducing absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions 16% by 2030 from a 2017 baseline.
Schneider Electric assisted the company in its European wind project selection and negotiations, Ball noted.
Last year the company was named one of the top 10 corporate renewable energy buyers in the US. They signed VPPAs for 388 MW of new wind and solar energy in April 2019, which Ball said put them on a path to reaching 100% renewable energy for its North American operations by the end of 2021.
