Securing a Greener Grid: Philips, HEINEKEN, Nobian and Signify power European operations with clean electricity thanks to new wind energy initiative

Mutkalampi, Finland – Philips, HEINEKEN, Nobian, and Signify celebrate the opening of Finland's largest active wind farm that will provide a renewable electricity guarantee for the consortium of companies. The  10-year agreement with Neoen will deliver 330 GWh per year to the consortium – the equivalent electricity needed to power 40,000 households. This renewable electricity will help to avoid over 230,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. [1].

In the first pan-European agreement of its kind, the consortium committed to contracting renewable electricity from the wind farm for the first 10 years through the Virtual Power Purchase Agreement in 2020. The electricity is physically delivered to the Finnish grid while the four consortium partners benefit from the Guarantees of Origin. This provides income stability for the renewable project, while guaranteeing clean energy for the consortium members.

Robert Metzke, Global Head of Sustainability at Philips: “Climate change challenges societies and healthcare systems worldwide. This renewable electricity partnership raises the bar in how we can jointly increase green energy supply across Europe. With the opening of the Mutkalampi wind farm, we are securing renewable electricity supply that will help power our global operations for the next 10 years, as well as enabling our customers’ transition to sustainable healthcare. This is an important step as we work towards achieving our 2025 climate targets.”  

Maurice Loosschilder, Signify Head of Sustainability, said: “This ground-breaking partnership ensures we can power our European operations – including our facilities, factories, offices, and warehouses – on renewable electricity for the next decade, while accelerating the European transition to clean energy. The facility powers Signify’s operational electricity use in the EU, excluding Poland, where we have an existing agreement in place. We’re proud to partner with like-minded organizations as we continue our sustainability journey and reinforce our commitment to reduce our emissions at double the pace of the Paris Agreement 1.5 degrees scenario by the end of 2025.”

Marco Faes, Director Corporate Affairs Europe, Heineken: “As part of our ambition to Brew a Better World, we are accelerating the transition to decarbonise our breweries. Together with our colleagues in Global Procurement, we have made great progress in adopting renewable energy. The wind farm in Mutkalampi, Finland moves us one step closer to reach 100% renewable electricity in Europe within a year – in line with our global ambition to be net zero in scopes 1 & 2 by 2030. This includes all our breweries and logistics sites. We’re happy to be partnering on this VPPA and we remain focused on our net zero journey ahead.”

Johan Hospers, Director Energy at Nobian: “This opportunity where we secure a share of the output of the Mutkalampi windfarm is important to become more sustainable. It contributes to us realizing our renewable energy targets as expressed in Nobian's ‘Grow Greener Together’ strategy. A long term commitment from Nobian, and our consortium partners, to realize additional wind projects such as Neoen’s Mutkalampi windpark, is a great example of how we can become greener and how industry can contribute to a sustainable energy system.”

The new wind farm has been developed, is owned, and operated by Neoen, a leading independent producer of renewable energy.

[1] When compared to the average CO2 emissions of European electricity generation.