Industrial, Solar  -  June 7, 2021

Charles River Labs Signs Solar VPPA for North American Operations

Charles River Laboratories International plans to power its North American operations with renewable energy by 2023 through a long-term solar energy contract completed this week.

The pharmaceutical company completed the 15-year VPPA with Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions for 102 MW of energy from the 250 MW Pisgah Ridge Solar project in Texas. The portion dedicated to Charles River will generate approximately 250,000 MWh of clean energy annually.

“We have a responsibility to reduce our climate impact,” James C. Foster, chairman, president and CEO at Charles River, said in a statement. “I am proud to strategically commit to clean energy, which markedly impacts our ability to reduce GHG emissions.”

Charles River is pursuing a target to source 100% renewable electricity globally by 2030 and is part of the RE100 initiative. The Pisgah Ridge Solar project should cover 60% of the company’s global energy needs.

The solar project is expected to achieve full commercial operation by the end of 2022 and begin providing clean energy to Charles River in 2023.

Charles River is also pursuing a 50% cut in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and a 15% cut in Scope 3 emissions by 2030.

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