Enel has signed an agreement to supply the US logistic operations of McDonald’s Corporation with solar electricity from its 189W Blue Jay solar plant in Texas.
McDonalds and all five members of the restaurant chain’s North American Logistics Council (Armada, Earp Distribution, Martin Brower, Mile Hi Foods and The Anderson-DuBose Company) have signed agreements with Enel North America to purchase renewable energy and the associated RECs from the solar plant in Grimes County.
This means the electricity load of McDonald’s USA’s entire logistics supply chain for all its US restaurants is expected to be 100% supported by renewable energy.
The Blue Jay solar project is expected to be fully operational in 2023.
Once complete, McDonald’s and its suppliers’ combined electricity purchase is expected to amount to an estimated average of over 470,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually.
This is equivalent to avoiding over 170,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually or the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from over 80 million trucking miles driven each year.
“Adding Blue Jay solar to our US renewable energy portfolio is one of the many important steps in our journey to achieving our net zero aspirations,” said Bob Stewart, SVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer, North America, at McDonald’s.