In 2019, global enterprises procured 19.5GW of clean energy electricity

In 2019, businesses purchased a record amount of clean energy through power purchase agreements (PPAs), an increase of more than
40% over the previous year's record.
Most of these purchases take place in the US, but a strong upward trend underpins a surge
in commitments to corporate sustainability around the world.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) recently released the Enterprise Energy Market Outlook for the First Half of 2020, more than 100 companies in 23 countries and regions signed about 19.
5GW of clean energy contracts in 2019, which is up from 13.
6GW in 2018 and three times
the amount in 2017.

Overall, companies purchased more than 10% of the world's new renewable energy capacity last year, and the development and construction costs of the projects involved could be between
$20 billion and $30 billion.

Jonas Rooze, principal analyst for sustainability at BNEF, said: "Since 2008, businesses have purchased more than 50GW of clean energy
.
This is larger than the scale of electricity generation in markets such as Vietnam and Poland
.
These buyers are reshaping electricity markets and energy companies' business models
around the world.
”

In terms of business types, technology companies once again dominated clean energy procurement
in 2019.
Google bought more than 2.
7GW of clean energy worldwide in 2019, more than any other company
.
In September 2019, the tech giant announced contracts to purchase 1.
9GW of clean energy in six countries, the company's largest order
ever.
The company uses a unique reverse auction process to sign these contracts, while developers participate in a real-time open bidding process
.
In addition, Facebook came in second with 1.
1GW, followed by Amazon (0.
9GW) and Microsoft (0.
8GW).

Although not as active as tech companies, more and more oil and gas companies are signing clean energy deals
.
Occidental Petroleum, Chevron Corp.
and Energy Transfer Partners all signed solar contracts
in 2019.
ExxonMobil also started this trend
by signing two PPAs with a total installed capacity of 575MW at the end of 2018.

Kyle Harrison, sustainability analyst at BNEF and lead author of the report, commented: "The clean energy portfolios of some of the largest corporate buyers rival those of the world's largest utilities
.
These companies are under increasing pressure
from investors to decarbonize.
Clean energy contracts are a way
to diversify energy expenditures and reduce sensitivity to the real risks associated with climate change.
”

In terms of countries and regions, the total amount of PPA in the Americas reached an unprecedented 15.
7GW
in 2019.
The US accounted for the majority of that, at 13.
6GW
.
More than 80% of these contracts signed in the US in 2019, or 11.
2GW, were in virtual PPA mode
.
The remaining 2.
4GW of clean energy purchased by U.
S.
companies in 2019 was traded under green tariffs, which are provided
by utilities in regulated markets.

It was also a record year for PPA, a company in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America, with companies buying 2.
6GW and 2GW of clean energy
, respectively.
Notable in the EMEA region is the hub
for new European markets outside of Northern Europe.
While nearly half of the activity still comes from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, businesses are now also starting to sign long-term clean energy contracts
for the first time in markets such as Spain, Poland, France and Italy.

In Latin America, its corporate PPA market has tripled, with Brazil and Chile becoming the region's two largest national markets
.
Brazilian customers with annual demand of more than 3 MW, namely wholesale consumers, have negotiated contracts
directly with clean energy developers.
In Chile, big mining companies such as BHP Group and Antofagasta face investor pressure similar to oil and gas companies, which are negotiating special clean energy supply agreements
with retailers.
After successfully launching the first clean energy auction, Colombia is the next Latin American market
to watch.

Although 2019 was a sluggish year for corporate PPA activity in the Asia-Pacific region (PPA), the region is still full of potential
.
In Australia, on-site solar projects providing electricity to businesses nearly doubled to 1GW.

China's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) came into effect, mandating that large electricity consumers use clean energy to meet a certain amount of their needs
.
Auctions of non-fossil certificates in Japan increased 11-fold, thanks to the country's high level of participation
in sustainability initiatives.

Corporate sustainability commitments also soared in 2019 and were the driving force
behind a record-breaking year for PPA in 2019.
Nearly 400 companies around the world have pledged to reduce emissions under the Paris Agreement, and clean energy will be an important part of
this strategy.
In addition, 63 companies have set "RE100" targets, committing to offset 100% of their electricity demand
with clean energy.

According to the latest documents, RE100 has a total of 221 members as of 2019, and BNEF estimates that these 221 RE100 companies will need to purchase an additional 210 TWh of clean electricity by 2030 to meet their targets
.
If this shortfall is made up through off-site PPAs, it will catalyze the construction of about 105GW of new solar and wind energy
globally.
Funding these new additions is expected to require an additional $98 billion in investment
.