Spanish renewables company X-Elio has signed a 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to supply 245GWh of clean energy annually to a cohort of four pharmaceutical companies.
The cohort, which includes Thermo Fisher Scientific, Haleon, Gilead Sciences and GSK, is part of the Energize programme, a supply chain renewables initiative designed by Schneider Electric Sustainability Business.
The multi-buyer deal will allow the four companies to purchase clean energy from X-Elio over the next decade, with the energy coming from 35% of X-Elio’s Lorca Solar project in Spain. The Lorca Solar project has a total capacity of 369 MW and is expected to be operational by early 2026.
The agreement has been reached through a virtual PPA, a flexible mechanism that allows companies to source clean energy in support of decarbonisation goals.
X-Elio specialises in the development of renewable energy projects and has a presence in Spain, Italy, the US, Japan, Australia, Latin America and the Middle East.
In 2024, X-Elio partnered with NIC to invest in German BESS developer ECO STOR, with this investment marking X-ELIO’s entry into the German energy storage market and doubling its storage pipeline to 12.6GW.
Mirko Molinari, Chief Commercial Officer at X-ELIO, said: “The signing of this virtual PPA reaffirms our commitment to offering personalised net-zero solutions adapted to the needs of our partners.
“We are delighted to collaborate with the landmark programme Energize and contribute to its ambitious goal to decarbonise the supply chain of the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.”
PPAs have become a key tool to help the pharmaceutical industry decarbonise its operations. For instance, global pharma giants Johnson & Johnson and Bayer have signed PPAs with renewables majors Ørsted and Iberdrola, respectively. In 2023, pharmaceutical packaging company Gerresheimer said that its PPA with PNE, which will supply the company 35GWh of wind power per year, will reduce its CO₂ emissions by around 18,000t* annually.
