ZEN Energy, industrial gas supplier BOC Australia and ACEN Australia have signed a new tri-party deal that will see the delivery of one of the largest multi-state Electricity Retail Agreements (ERA) in the country.
Under the ten-year agreement, more than 45 per cent of BOC Australia’s grid power use in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria will be replaced with solar energy.
The innovative ERA will supply BOC’s energy needs on the eastern seaboard up to 2035. The deal is supported by a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), under which ZEN Energy will purchase approximately 23 per cent of the solar generation from ACEN’s 400MW New England (Stage 1) solar project in New South Wales.
The new agreement enables BOC Australia to reduce its current carbon emissions by more than 40 per cent by 2035. BOC is a subsidiary of industrial gases and engineering company Linde, which has a target to reduce its global emissions 35 per cent by 2035.
BOC Australia Managing Director, Theo Martin, said this agreement supports Linde’s global target to reduce its Scope 2 emissions by gradually increasing its use of renewable energy.
“In addition to lowering BOC’s emissions in Australia, it will also help our customers become more efficient and decarbonise their operations by supplying industrial gases which have a lower carbon intensity at a competitive price.”
ZEN Energy CEO, Anthony Garnaut, said this is the transition to renewable energy in action and at scale.
“Such big steps forward for industry sustainability and emissions reduction would not be possible unless a genuine partnership between BOC, ACEN Australia and ZEN was involved.”
Mr Garnaut said BOC is ZEN Energy’s first global customer.
“This demonstrates great confidence in our business model and our strategy. ZEN was the first energy company to commit to science-based targets to reduce carbon emissions, and this agreement is proof positive that BOC is firmly of the same mind and mission.”
ACEN Australia Managing Director, David Pollington, said the agreement is another milestone for the company’s New England Solar project, which stands as a major contributor to the National Electricity Market (NEM) and includes the first large-scale battery storage project to be built in New England.
“We are excited by this offtake with ZEN Energy, enabling us to bring more renewable energy projects to life and clean electricity for Australian homes and businesses while reducing the need for electricity that would otherwise be sourced from generators with higher emissions intensity.”
