By Kingsley I. Ilechukwu

On 7 July 2020, Fabienne Dulac, Deputy CEO of Orange Group and CEO of Orange France and Nicolas Wolff, Vice Chairman and General Manager of Boralex Europe, announced the conclusion of a Corporate Renewable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

This Corporate PPA concluded between Orange France and Boralex is the first Renewable PPA signed by Orange in the country.

Boralex, a pioneer in renewable energy and the leading independent producer of onshore wind power in France, will supply Orange with 67 GWh/year of renewable electricity produced by the 26 wind turbines at the Ally-Mercoeur wind farm (Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region). This 5-year agreement will come into force on 1 January 2021. It will cover all the electricity produced by the wind farm, which has an installed capacity of 39 MW.

This agreement illustrates Orange’s ambitions to contro l the energy and environmental impacts of its networks, at a time when the volume of data sent over the networks is constantly growing.

At the presentation of its Engage 2025 strategic plan, Orange identified the climate challenge as one of its main focuses and set itself the target of achieving GSMA’s targets 10 years in advance by being net zero carbon by 2040, despite the increasing data on the networks.

This will require increased use of renewable energies, which will represent over 50 per cent of the energy consumed by the Group in 2025, as well as unprecedented efforts in terms of energy efficiency. By 2025, Orange will reinforce its Green ITN programme to reduce the energy consumption of its networks, multiply the number of electric vehicles in France by 10 and rely more on the circular economy, for example by using eco-designed products, second-hand network equipment and more second-hand devices available in stores.

For Boralex, this agreement, the first with a CAC40 company, is a significant step in the deployment of its strategic plan for 2023 in which the sale of green energy to corporate consumers is a key component. The agreement signed with Orange enables the Ally-Mercoeur wind farm to enter a new phase by securing the sale of its electricity at the end of its mandatory power purchase agreement in December 2020. This agreement also illustrates the quality of Boralex’s production facilities and its industrial expertise in the maintenance of its assets, which has extended their life beyond the initial mandatory power purchase agreements.

Deputy CEO of Orange Group and CEO of Orange France, Fabienne Dulac: “Orange France set itself a very ambitious target as part of its Engage 2025 strategy: to achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2040 and improve the energy efficiency of its networks. While over the past few months the networks have proved to be vital to our professional and private lives, I am particularly proud of this agreement which illustrates our commitment and confirms our desire to be one of the first economic players to adopt PPAs, contributing to our country’s energy transition.”

Vice Chairman and General Manager of Boralex Europe, Nicolas Wolff: “Our aim was to develop a partnership with Orange that would generate value for both our groups. And that’s what we’ve done. We are delighted to see Boralex’s name associated with Orange France. This Corporate PPA demonstrates our ability to provide companies with practical solutions for their energy transitions.”