Post: Renewable electricity procurement continues to rise: RE100

Renewable electricity procurement continues to rise: RE100

RE100 recently released its 2024 Annual disclosure report, one of the most in-depth looks we have into corporate renewable electricity procurement.

Published on 22 May, the report explores how RE100 members, which account for 545TWh of annual electricity use, are accelerating the energy transition around the world. RE100 companies reported 53% renewable electricity (RE), but the report noted that disclosures include sufficient detail for RE100 to recognise 42% of this as renewables.

The manufacturing sector remains the biggest consumer of electricity within RE100. According to the 2024 report, 109 companies reported using a combined 222TWh of electricity, with 42% derived from renewable sources. This reflects growth compared to 2023, when 96 companies used 184TWh, with only 33% coming from renewables. In the services sector, 143 companies reported electricity usage totalling 138TWh in 2024, with renewables making up 45% of that. This is a slight drop from the previous year, when 147 companies used 125TWh, 47% of which was renewable. Retail businesses experienced similar growth. In 2024, 27 companies used a total of 60TWh of electricity, with 35% coming from renewable sources; up from 22 companies in 2023, which consumed 58TWh and had a 28% renewable energy share.

Source: RE100

While RE100 companies continue to increase their procurement through power purchase agreements (PPAs) year-on-year in absolute terms, PPA procurement has decreased as a share of RE100 companies’ renewable electricity procurement for the second year in a row.

The report said this can again be explained through RE100’s continued expansion in Asian markets in which PPAs are limited as well as increased levels of renewables purchasing by existing members in some of these markets. Existing members reported purchasing 10TWh of additional RE in Asia compared to last year’s report. The biggest portion of this net increase in purchasing was through contracts with suppliers.

The volume of reported RE procurement across each procurement type has increased relative to last year. There has been a sizable growth in members RE purchases through retail contracts with suppliers. This has increased from 56TWh in the last report to 79TWh this year. The bulk of this increase is coming from new and existing member purchasing in markets across Asia. The volume of RE self-generated by members has also increased by approximately 50% to 6TWh.

High costs, limited supplies and a lack of procurement options were ranked as the top three barriers to renewables growth by RE100 members globally.

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