BOSTON, March 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. (SR Inc) announced a new aggregated procurement featuring six virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) through its Net Zero Consortium for Buyers (NZCB). The transaction procures 172 MW of purchaser-caused energy attribute certificates (PC EACs) from Star Dairy and Rosebud, two forthcoming Texas solar plants to be developed by X-ELIO, a Brookfield Renewable asset.

The corporate buyers are Cisco, Biogen Inc., IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., and Waters Corporation. Closed just before the New Year, these transactions:

• Enabled the NZCB to exceed its goal of helping participating companies cause more than a gigawatt of new renewable energy before 2025.

• Contributed to the more than $1.5 billion for new clean energy the NZCB has facilitated.

• Advanced the NZCB to its recently announced goal of causing 10 GW of new renewable energy capacity through 2030, starting with the NZCB Next Gigawatt of Advanced Market Commitments before SR Inc’s Summit for Sustainable Business IX in Denver in March 2026.

The NZCB’s confidential buyer community leverages a “VPPA 2.0” approach, which improves buyer risk management by optimizing VPPA process and transaction structure. Centering on a Reverse Auction, transparent to NZCB’s high-credit buyers and blind to sellers, the process procures PC EACs, whose long-term model unquestionably enables the financing and development of renewable energy projects. Through their VPPA 2.0 participation, NZCB Members have made the NZCB the leading buyer-only platform for aggregated utility-scale renewable energy procurement in the U.S. and Europe. Their collaboration democratizes utility-scale clean energy by expanding access to best-practice offsite procurement.

Each corporate buyer will apply their PC EACs from Star Dairy Solar and Rosebud Solar towards its emissions reduction goals:

• Cisco, the worldwide leader in security and networking technology, entered into a VPPA for 50 MW of the Star Dairy solar project and 50 MW of the Rosebud solar project. This aggregated renewable energy procurement, Cisco’s third with the NZCB, advances Cisco’s goal to reach net zero across its value chain by 2040.

• Biogen, a leading global biotechnology company, will procure PC EACs from 12 MW of the Star Dairy solar project and 23 MW of the Rosebud solar project. This aggregated renewable energy procurement, Biogen’s second with the NZCB, contributes to Biogen’s 100% renewable energy commitment, which it has maintained since 2014.

• IDEXX Laboratories, a global leader in pet healthcare innovation, will procure PC EACs from 20 MW of the Star Dairy solar project. This aggregated renewable energy procurement, IDEXX’s second with the NZCB, supports its goal of procuring 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

• Waters Corporation, a global leader in analytical instruments, separations technologies, and software serving the life, materials, food, and environmental sciences, will procure PC EACs from 17 MW of the Star Dairy solar project.

“As Cisco looks to reach its net zero target across its value chain, aggregated renewable energy procurements with other corporate buyers figure significantly in our renewable energy transition approach,” said Andy Smith, Director of Energy, Employee Health and Safety and Technology at Cisco. “Joining other buyers enables us to spread our procurement across multiple transactions, diversifying our renewable energy portfolio in a way that decreases risk and increases cost-effectiveness. We are delighted to work with NZCB buyers to cause new clean energy capacity.”

“NZCB high-credit buyers are the stars,” said James F. Boyle, CEO and Founder of SR Inc. “They repeatedly demonstrate that economic and intellectual collaboration between the smartest companies can cause new clean energy at scale. VPPA 2.0, which NZCB buyers helped invent, is growing rapidly thanks to their enthusiastic participation. With multiple transactions underway across North America and Europe, we are committed to extending our 100% completion rate.”

Star Dairy and Rosebud expect to achieve commercial operation in July 2027. Projections anticipate the six individual VPPAs will yield approximately 367,000 PC EACs annually throughout the contract’s twelve-year duration.

About Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. (SR Inc):
SR Inc is a Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to accelerating the development and adoption of best practices in more sustainable business. SR Inc’s Sustainable Business & Enterprise Roundtable (SBER) provides strategic advisory and support in enterprise decarbonization. SR Inc's Net Zero Consortium for Buyers (NZCB) is a confidential buyers' community committed to creating corporate buyer-favorable renewable energy transactions to enable participating enterprises to chart a profitable path to net zero emissions globally.

About X-ELIO:
X-ELIO, a Brookfield-owned company, specializes in the development of renewable energy projects with a global presence in Spain, Italy, the United States, Japan, Australia, Latin America, and the Middle East. With 20 years of experience and more than 3 GW built, this world-leading company is strongly committed to sustainability, the reduction of greenhouse gases, and the fight against climate change.

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