Google: A New Model for Decarbonising Global Value Chains

Google has signed a long-term deal with ReNew in India to help scale decarbonisation across its global value chain through clean energy procurement.

The partnership demonstrates how multinational companies can address the complex challenge of reducing emissions across their supply chain networks.

According to the IEA, annual clean energy investment needs to more than triple by 2030 to reach global net zero emissions by 2050. Despite pledges by governments and companies, carbon emissions from the energy sector have increased by 60% since 1992.

Google is working to decarbonise its own operations and value chain, aiming to meet its goal of net zero emissions by 2030 through clean energy projects around the world.

Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Google, says on LinkedIn: "Decarbonising a global value chain is anything but straightforward.

"Like many companies, Google's value chain spans multiple geographies and industries and we often lack the specific data to track every emission source perfectly. But complexity can't be a reason for inaction."

Addressing supply chain emissions

To help support its clean energy plans, Google has signed a long-term agreement with ReNew, a leading decarbonisation solutions company. The agreement will enable the companies to develop a new 150 MW solar project in Rajasthan, India, with Google procuring the project's energy from ReNew.

This solar project is expected to generate approximately 425,000 MWh of clean electricity each year, which could power more than 360,000 Indian households. The project will help support India's target to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030.

Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Co-Founder and Chairperson, Sustainability at ReNew, says: "This partnership with Google reflects the growing global confidence in India's clean energy ecosystem and ReNew's ability to deliver climate-positive solutions at scale.

"Long-term agreements of this kind are catalytic, they enable new renewable capacity, support India's energy transition and help global companies meet ambitious sustainability commitments. We are proud to work with Google on a model that sets a powerful precedent for credible, high-impact climate action."

The initiative will advance the sustainability goals of both companies by increasing ReNew's renewable energy use and operational efficiency while helping to decarbonise parts of Google's global value chain.

The partnership demonstrates how strategic collaboration can drive meaningful progress towards emissions reduction targets.

Implementing procurement strategies

The deal with ReNew shows a practical example of the principles outlined in a recent whitepaper by 3Degrees, which was funded by Google. The whitepaper discusses how companies can successfully procure clean electricity in their value chains in order to meet their emissions reduction targets.

It encourages businesses to first identify their Scope 3 emissions to address through direct procurement and to judge how feasible it is to track each part of the value chain. After this, companies should match their calculated emissions through direct procurement of clean electricity attributes, including power purchase agreements or unbundled energy attribute certificates.

By partnering with ReNew, Google is putting elements from the whitepaper into practice by engaging with its value chain to drive meaningful impact. Google's work is helping to add new clean energy to the grid by signing a long-term agreement that will enable investment in new generation capacity.

Scaling clean energy infrastructure

Vrushali Gaud, Global Director, Climate Operations at Google, says: "Clean, affordable electricity is central to our growth ambitions, both for our own infrastructure and for our value chain.

"This novel agreement with ReNew is a critical strategic step; it brings new solar capacity onto the grid in a key region and helps address challenging portions of our value chain emissions. We are committed to supporting India's clean energy journey through this collaboration and contributing positively to the national grid."

The partnership between Google and ReNew demonstrates how companies can leverage long-term procurement agreements to address the challenge of value chain decarbonisation.

For supply chain leaders, this model could show a pathway to reducing Scope 3 emissions while supporting renewable energy infrastructure development in key manufacturing and operational regions.