Wendy’s Inks is partnering with a solar company to reduce restaurant emissions

Brief description of the dive:

• Wendy’s is a company cooperation with a service provider and solar energy acquisition Ampion Renewable Energy intends to use clean energy and reduce carbon emissions at its restaurants and franchises in the United States, the companies said last week.
• The fast food chain said nearly 100 of its company-operated restaurants and nearly 40 franchise locations in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois have signed up for Ampion’s clean energy offering. The solar energy provider said “Ampion+” product helps businesses reduce energy costs, access renewable energy certificates and provides them with an “innovative way to achieve ESG goals.”
• Wendy’s says restaurants and franchises using Ampion+ will source between 30% and 100% of their energy from solar energy without the need to install solar panels on-site.

Diving Insight:

The Dublin, Ohio-based chain of stores — known for its square beef patties — said it plans to expand the number of locations it has signed up as more solar-powered capacity becomes available. Both companies said signing up for Ampion’s renewable energy offering would help generate and deliver renewable energy to local power grids, ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.

Wendy’s locations already enrolled in Ampion+ are estimated to generate 27.5 million kilowatt-hours of solar energy in the communities, according to the release. The companies said this amount is roughly equal to the carbon dioxide emissions produced by the annual electricity consumption of 2,200 homes.

Each kilowatt-hour of solar energy produced will be tracked and assigned to a specific restaurant or franchise location based on Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) issued by Ampion.

“As the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions grows, solar energy combined with RECs provides a solution to environmental sustainability in the corporate sector that is both achievable and affordable, while enabling companies to quantify and disclose their progress in a standardized way,” Nate Owen, CEO and founder of Ampion, said in the release.

Wendy’s collaboration with Ampion continues the sustainable development goals it set for itself last yearwhich includes reducing absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 47%, and Scope 3 emissions from franchises by 47% by 2030, compared to a 2019 base year.

The announcement also comes at a time when interest in solar energy is growing. report from U.S. Energy Information Administration found that additional solar PV will account for 58% of new electricity generation capacity this year, while additional battery storage will account for 23%. Furthermore, the EIA estimates that solar will add a record 36.4 gigawatts if additions occur as planned in 2024.