Schneider Electric Recognized by The Climate Group's RE100 as First Clean Energy Trailblazer

• The award recognizes Schneider Electric’s ambition to decarbonize the world by accelerating the adoption of renewable electricity
• Winners were selected from among a distinguished list of corporate clean energy leaders

Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has been recognized as the 2020 Clean Energy Trailblazer by The Climate Group’s RE100. This is the first year of the RE100 Leadership Awards, which recognizes companies going above-and-beyond to accelerate a clean energy future. Schneider Electric was awarded the honor based on its wide-ranging commitments to the clean energy transition. This includes, the company’s own sustainability and CO2 reduction targets, the company’s portfolio of EcoStruxure technologies to enable its customers to likewise decarbonize their operations through renewable electricity, alongside its industry-leading clean energy advisory services and Access to Energy program, which addresses energy access in underserved communities globally. 

Schneider Electric is recognized as one of the world’s most sustainable companies, tackling the urgency of rapidly reducing carbon emissions and adopting renewable energy solutions to fight the climate crisis. The company’s ambitions to pave the way to a low carbon world are achieved through a three-pronged strategy addressing its own operations, its clients’ carbon footprints, and developing communities.

Mike Peirce, Corporate Partnerships Director, the Climate Group, said: “Congratulations to Schneider Electric on being awarded Clean Energy Trailblazer in our inaugural RE100 Leadership Awards. As a member of all three of our initiatives on renewable power, smart energy use and electric vehicles, Schneider Electric is seizing opportunities right across the clean energy transition and proving that it’s good for business. By working with them to share their successes and learnings, we hope to inspire many more companies to follow suit.”

Towards 100% Renewable Electricity in Schneider Electric’s Operations

Schneider Electric’s own climate objectives are clear: achieve carbon neutrality in its operations by 2025 (allowing some CO2 offsets), and net-zero CO2 emissions by 2030 (no offsets). This is being achieved by deploying energy efficiency throughout its operations, electrifying erstwhile fossil fuel-based processes, sourcing renewable energy generation through a variety of technologies, and switching more than 14,000 company fleet vehicles to electric. To demonstrate its commitment to these goals, Schneider Electric is a “triple joiner” of The Climate Group’s RE100, EP100, and EV100 initiatives (https://www.theclimategroup.org/).

As part of its RE100 commitment, Schneider Electric will consume 100% of electricity produced from renewable sources by 2030, with an intermediary target of 80% in 2020 - a significant increase compared to its 2017 baseline of 2% renewable electricity. Since taking this commitment, the company’s emissions have been reduced by more than 250,000 metric tons of CO2 in just 24 months. Progress is publicly reported quarterly via the Schneider Sustainability Impact dashboard.

The company’s strategy for renewable electricity deployment maximizes additionality, with adoption of onsite capacity, offsite power purchase agreements (PPAs), the purchase of grid-sourced green electricity where available, and energy attribute certificates (EACs) when necessary.

Schneider Electric also deploys its own energy management solutions, such as microgrid technologies managed by EcoStruxure™ Microgrid Advisor, across its 1,000+ sites, to showcase how to practically advance renewable energy and carbon reduction commitments. Microgrids are leveraged to manage distributed production, electric vehicle charging and storage. To ramp-up onsite renewable production, the Group collaborates with financial and technical partners, leveraging innovative OpEx and third-party financing models.

Helping Customers Run on Renewables

Decarbonizing its own operations represents only a fraction of Schneider Electric’s efforts to fight climate change. To fully maximize its impact, the Group offers a suite of technologies and services to help its customers digitize, minimize energy usage, and maximize renewable energy utilization, with a goal to help its customers save 120 million metric tons of CO2 over 2018-2020 period. 

Schneider Electric advises thousands of global corporations through its Energy and Sustainability Services (ESS) division, which helps companies measure, manage, and reduce their own carbon footprints through a combination of resource management, efficiency, and procurement services. ESS is the world’s largest corporate renewable energy advisor, having consulted on more than 100 direct and virtual PPA transactions to date, a total of more than 8,000 megawatts of new built wind and solar infrastructure in the USA, Europe, Australia, Asia and South America, including the first publicly announced pan-European Virtual PPA, and market-opening PPAs in Vietnam. ESS’ NEO Network™—a global community of 300+ corporations mobilized toward renewable energy procurement and accelerated clean technology decision-making—is the first of its kind and made available to any qualified commercial or industrial buyer at no cost.

“At Schneider Electric, our purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We engage at all levels to accelerate the shift to 100% renewable electricity: in our own operations, by powering our factories and offices with renewables, and by providing low-carbon architectures and decarbonization services to our customers. We are humbled by this recognition and congratulate RE100 signatories for their like-minded strategies”, commented Olivier Blum, Executive VicePresident and Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at Schneider Electric.

Providing Clean and Reliable Energy to All

Schneider Electric considers energy and digital as fundamental human rights, giving everyone access to a decent, safe life, education and economic progress. Today around one billion people do not have access to reliable energy. Thanks to its Access to Energy Program, the Group has provided renewable energy access solutions to 27 million people, invested in 20 companies, and trained more than 261,000 underprivileged people. By 2025, the company aims to train one million people in energy management skills, to support 22,000 clean energy entrepreneurs, and by 2030, provide 80 million people access to clean energy.

Related Resources

• For more information on Schneider Electric’s sustainability impact and contribution to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), visit http://sdreport.se.com
• For more information on Schneider Electric 2020 Corporate Energy & Sustainability Progress Report click here.