Axpo Polska provides route to market for CPPA between Nestlé Polska and GoldenPeaks Capital

12.04.2023 - Axpo Polska has created a unique balancing service agreement for a CPPA between Nestlé Polska and GoldenPeaks Capital. Under the corporate power purchase agreement, photovoltaic farm operator GoldenPeaks Capital supplies around 44 GWh a year of green energy to seven Nestlé factories in Poland, helping the manufacturer achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Nestlé's production facilities in Poland have been directly powered by green energy since late summer 2022, thanks to solar power plants managed by GoldenPeaks Capital, a global investment group active in Poland. Axpo Polska, the balancing service provider and a subsidiary of Swiss energy group Axpo, established a legal framework for the long-term balancing agreement that covers additional services, including the property right settlement and others. The combination of a quick contract turnaround and customised energy supply make this arrangement unique in Poland and further strengthens the long-standing partnership between Axpo and Nestlé, who also work together in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy and Slovakia.

Paweł Wierzbicki, Head of Origination and Member of Axpo's Management Board in Poland, said, “Electricity produced by photovoltaic farms is usually fed into the grid anywhere in the country and not sold directly to consumer facilities. Creating an effective legal solution for the CPPA signed between Nestlé Polska and GoldenPeaks Capital was a challenge we gladly took on. The result is a cooperation model in which Nestlé Polska buys energy directly from both Axpo Polska and GoldenPeaks Capital portfolio companies.

Under the signed agreement, GoldenPeaks Capital’s solar power plants will supply around 44 GWh a year to seven Nestlé factories located in Kalisz, Kargowa, Toruń, Lubicz, Nałęczów, Nowa Wieś Wrocławska and Rzeszów. The green energy also supports Nestlé's global drive to halve its CO₂ emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Artur Jankowski, President of the Nestlé Polska Management Board, said, “Investment in renewable energy sources is a strategic priority for us. This is, of course, part of the diversification of supplies and energy sources, as all local factories were already using renewable electricity, purchased from authorised suppliers and certified with guarantees of origin. This is also an important step in the company's zero-carbon plan.”

Green energy for Nestlé’s factories is produced by 22 photovoltaic farms with a total capacity of 50 MWp. These facilities are sited at locations in western and north-western Poland with the country’s strongest insolation (the amount of solar radiation received on a given surface area during a specific amount of time). All the power plants are owned and operated by GoldenPeaks Capital, a global investment group specialising in the construction and operation of solar energy systems and one of the largest owners of photovoltaic systems in Poland and Hungary.