NORWALK, CONN. — Campbell Soup Co. has partnered with BNB Renewable Energy Holdings and SunPower Corp. to add a 1-megawatt solar array at its Pepperidge Farm bakery in Bloomfield, Conn. Commercial operation for the solar array, which is generating the equivalent of 15% of the bakery’s annual energy demand, began on Dec. 26, 2014.
According to Campbell, the ground-mounted, fixed-tilt array comprises 2,720 high-efficiency SunPower solar panels and sits on five acres of land leased from Pepperidge Farm. In its first year, the array is projected to produce more than 1.7MM kilowatt-hours of electricity, the company said.
The solar array in Bloomfield is the second largest to be installed at facilities owned by Campbell and is the latest step in the company’s sustainability initiatives to support the use of renewable energy. By 2020, Campbell has set a goal to reduce energy use by 35% per ton of product produced and source at least 40% of the energy used by the company from renewable or alternative energy sources.
“We have been proud to work with our partners BNB and SunPower, along with the town of Bloomfield, to complete construction of this renewable installation,” said Harry Pettit, manager of systems and infrastructure engineering at Pepperidge Farm. “Pepperidge Farm has agreed to purchase the equivalent of 100% of the electricity produced by the system for 20 years. These efforts are part of Campbell’s long-term strategy to cut the environmental footprint of our product portfolio in half and deliver long-term value to our business and the communities where we live and work.”
Pepperidge Farm and BNB Renewable Energy Holdings, its corporate partner on renewable projects, began development of the project in 2012. The company said a key to the project’s success has been a power purchase agreement under which Pepperidge Farm buys electricity at rates that are competitive with retail electricity, providing a hedge against rising electricity rates while supporting renewable energy development. Through the state of Connecticut’s Low and Zero Emissions Renewable Energy Credit Program, administered by Eversource Energy (formerly Connecticut Light & Power) and the United Illuminating Company, BNB secured an agreement with Eversource for the utility to purchase the solar renewable energy credits and environmental benefits associated with the system.
SunPower provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the project, and the project was financed through PNC Energy Capital, L.L.C. With the closing of financing, SunPower, working with BNB, will provide operations and maintenance services for the life of the system.
BNB and SunPower previously collaborated with Campbell on a 9.8-megawatt solar array at Campbell’s production facility in Napoleon, Ohio. That solar array, which provides the equivalent of about 15% of the Napoleon plant’s total annual energy draw, came on-line in December 2011.
