Dive Brief:
- H&M has begun sourcing the majority of the renewable electricity being produced at Sweden’s largest utility-scale solar power installation, Hultsfred Solar Farm, which is estimated to generate 100 gigawatt-hours of power annually.
- The clothing brand’s energy procurement arrangement builds on a 2022 power purchase agreement it signed with French renewable energy company Neoen and Swedish solar power producer Alight, who jointly commissioned and developed the solar park. Under the PPA, H&M will receive 95% of the renewable energy produced at the site, in addition to associated guarantees of origin.
- Hultsfred Solar Farm went online and began operations last week, according to a Sept. 3 press release from the two energy companies. The plant is spread across approximately 130 hectares of land and includes 174,000 low-carbon solar panels, the release said.
Dive Insight:
The Hultsfred farm has an installed capacity of 100 megawatt peak, or maximum possible output, and can generate enough renewable energy to match the annual power consumption of 18,000 households in Sweden, according to Neoen and Alight. The energy companies said the site’s operation marks an important milestone in Sweden’s renewable energy transition.
“Bringing this solar farm into operation with our partner Neoen and PPA offtaker H&M represents a milestone for us and demonstrates that the Swedish market can deliver large-scale, unsubsidised renewable energy fast,” Alight CEO Warren Campbell said in the release.
The deal also helps H&M — headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden — progress toward its own corporate sustainability goals. The multinational clothing retailer has a goal to power all its operations using renewable electricity by 2030 and source at least 50% of this energy through renewable electricity generation PPAs.
“As a global fashion player, we have both the power and the responsibility to drive the energy transition, and with the solar park in Hultsfred, we are taking another step on that journey,” H&M Northern Europe Head of Sustainability Marcus Hartmann said last week.
Hartmann said the solar park both creates new renewable electricity capacity in Sweden, in addition to boosting the supply of renewable energy and bringing H&M “closer to [its] goal of a circular business with net-zero emissions.”
The solar park’s development was supported by structured debt financing from Danske Bank, and construction was led by EPC Equans Energy and Storage – Solkompaniet consortium, according to the release.
