Commercial, Solar, Wind  -  November 7, 2019

McDonald's signs its first U.S. VPPAs

McDonald's announced on Nov. 7 the signing of two VPPAs for a total of 380 MW of wind and solar in Texas. These projects are expected to contribute approximately 16% in progress towards the company's Climate Action target to reduce GHG emissions by 36% from their restaurants and offices.

"We are proud to be committing to two projects that will expand the amount of green energy available in the U.S.  This renewable energy will be in the form of two virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) – a first for McDonald’s in the U.S. - and once online, the VPPAs are expected to facilitate McDonald’s adding more renewable energy to the grid than any other U.S. restaurant company to date," according to a statement from the company. 

McDonald's will source 220 MW from Aviator Wind West, a 525 MW project developed by Apex Clean Energy. The solar project will add an additional 160 MW in capacity. These two deals are expected to deliver approximately 6% in GHG emissions reductions from McDonald's baseline by 2030. 

McDonald’s restaurants in Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and UK/Ireland are already at or close to sourcing 100% of the energy needed to power their restaurants from renewable sources as of 2018.