February 2, 2023 – Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it will power all of the company’s current U.S. sites with 100 percent renewable electricity by 2026. The company’s new 20-year virtual power purchasing agreement with EDF Renewables includes the full output of the 200-megawatt (MW) Millers Branch Solar project.
The agreement with EDF Renewables will deliver approximately 545,000 MWh of renewable electricity annually from the Millers Branch Solar project in Texas. This project complements Thermo Fisher’s previously announced agreement with Enel North America for the Seven Cowboy wind project. Together, these projects will provide enough renewable power to match all of Thermo Fisher’s current U.S. electricity needs.
The impact of the company’s U.S. transition to renewable electricity contributes significantly to Thermo Fisher’s recently announced commitment to raise its 2030 reduction target for Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions—from 30% to 50%, based on a 2018 baseline.1 The new 50% reduction target, announced in December 2022, fulfills Thermo Fisher’s commitment to the Business Ambition to 1.5˚C campaign and aligns its climate strategy with the Paris Agreement and its reduction targets with the 1.5˚C pathway.
Thermo Fisher has submitted its climate targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation. SBTi establishes standards, guidance, and tools to drive ambitious climate action in the private sector. Thermo Fisher is among the first companies in its sector to submit net-zero climate targets to SBTi.
The Millers Branch Solar project is expected to be operational by December 2025. Thermo Fisher was supported by Sustainability Roundtable Inc.’s Net Zero Consortium for Buyers, a platform committed to helping corporate buyers with global decarbonization strategies and favorable renewable energy transactions.