US corporations clinch record 20 GW of clean energy PPAs in 2022

January 20 (Renewables Now) - Commercial and industrial (C&I) companies in the US sealed close to 20 GW of clean power purchase agreements (PPAs) in 2022, achieving an all-time high in the domestic corporate power purchasing activity, shows data from the American Clean Power Association (ACP).

Driven by efforts to achieve their environmental goals, corporate players contracted more than 4 GW of wind, solar and energy storage projects than in the previous year, regardless of the increased PPA prices.

“Economic and environmental benefits, as well as growing pressure on corporations to meet sustainability targets, have led to a 100-times increase in corporate clean power procurement over the past decade. During that same period, solar and wind costs have decreased 71% and 47% respectively, making both more attractive to corporate energy buyers,” said JC Sandberg, interim CEO of ACP.

Technology companies were the most active players on the corporate PPA arena in 2022, with Amazon, Meta and Google leading business demand. Companies in the energy industry, among which Shell, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, were responsible for 60% of the total contracted clean energy capacity in their segment.

By technology, solar was the top option of companies when it comes to PPAs, with utility-scale solar accounting for 58% of corporate contracted clean power last year. The technology’s coupling with energy storage has meanwhile spurred demand for hybrid projects as it enables corporates to benefit from firm generation.

At end-2022, more than 77 GW of clean energy capacity in the US was contracted by over 300 corporations. These companies are purchasing electricity from 540 projects in 49 states and Puerto Rico, according to ACP’s statistics.