Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, announced continued progress toward decarbonization for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Energize, a collaborative partnership among the world’s leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies and their suppliers, celebrates the second PPA cohort to procure renewable electricity together, following the first cohort announced in fall 2024. This multi-buyer PPA was signed with developer X-ELIO and the energy sourced from their Lorca Solar Project is expected to be operational by early 2026.
Energize sponsors, Haleon and GSK, and industry suppliers, Gilead Sciences and Thermo Fisher Scientific, have collaborated to execute an aggregated purchase of 245 GWh of renewable energy per year for a 10-year term. This represents an estimated 41,7481 metric tons CO2 avoided per year, or the equivalent of 74,8782 Spanish households’ average annual electricity consumption.
Thermo Fisher Scientific served as the lead negotiator supporting the group of companies during the PPA negotiations, which led to a successful combined investment in this long-term supply of renewable electricity. “As a company whose mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer; we know partnership is critical to achieving ambitious goals,” said Konrad Bauer, senior vice president, global business services, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Serving as cohort lead for this agreement empowered us to leverage learnings and insights from our own climate journey to help advance our collective progress toward net-zero emissions, while achieving 100 percent renewable electricity for our European sites.”
“We are excited to be part of this Energize cohort that will add new renewable energy to the grid in Europe for our operations and our suppliers. Our work through Energize, which we co-founded in 2021, showcases the power of partnerships in driving meaningful change, supporting business resilience, ensuring energy security and improving cost predictability in the long term,” said Lisa Martin, Chief Procurement Officer at GSK.
“At Haleon, our purpose is to deliver better everyday health with humanity. People’s everyday health is directly linked to the health of our planet so we take our commitment to reduce our environmental footprint very seriously,” said Sarah McDonald, VP of Sustainability at Haleon. “Collaboration is key to achieving our environmental sustainability goals and by partnering with like-minded organizations, we can amplify our impact and drive meaningful change. This initiative is a vital part of our aim to reach net-zero carbon emissions from source to sale by 2040.”
“At Gilead Sciences, responsible long-term investments and partnerships are crucial to achieving a healthier world for all. Our 2025 transition to 100 per cent renewable energy rests on sourcing continued clean energy, and this program is key to meeting our net-zero operations goal by 2030. It is a clear privilege to lead with our ambitions and contribute to creating new green infrastructure with our peers. Climate change is indifferent to siloed achievements but will be profoundly transformed by a collective urgency to do better for our planet. A future where we meet our responsibility to deliver medicines without creating the need for more, will be defined by cross-collaborative efforts like this one,” said Joydeep Ganguly, SVP of Corporate Operations at Gilead Sciences.
"The signing of this virtual PPA reaffirms our commitment to offer personalized net-zero solutions adapted to the needs of our partners,” said Mirko Molinari, Chief Commercial Officer at X-ELIO. “We are delighted to collaborate with a landmark program, Energize, and contribute to its ambitious goal to decarbonize the pharmaceutical and healthcare supply chain.”
“Making the most of our energy and resources is crucial as we collectively move towards more sustainable solutions across industries and around the world,” said John Powers, Vice President, Global Renewable at Schneider Electric. “The Energize program aims to drive supply chain carbonization across the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries while serving as a playbook for other sectors as they look to tackle the most notoriously challenging aspects of decarbonization – Scope 3 emissions.”
The largest estimated emissions driver for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector is the supply chain, which accounts for over 50 per cent of emissions. Twenty-four leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies sponsor the Energize program, managed by Schneider Electric, to provide renewable electricity education and procurement support at no cost for their suppliers. This support empowers suppliers to make tangible strides toward achieving decarbonization goals.
Recently, Energize celebrated the first multi-buyer PPA for 563.7 GWh of renewable electricity per year for a 10-year term. The success of this industry-wide initiative has proven successful, as evidenced by the progress shown through multiple PPA cohorts investing in a long-term supply of renewable electricity. Schneider Electric’s Sustainability Business served as the advisor to the four companies participating in this second cohort throughout the PPA procurement and negotiation process.
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