Cargill's Corporate Clean Energy Procurement

Jun 3, 2024

Christina Yagjian from Cargill discusses corporate clean energy procurement, comparing renewable energy certificates and power purchase agreements, emphasizing additionality and balancing emissions with costs. The conversation covers the role of storage in renewable energy sourcing and highlights the collaboration between companies for power purchase agreements. It also delves into the challenges of achieving operational emission reduction targets through renewable energy procurement.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Navigating the Renewable Energy Landscape

01:38 • 9min

Exploring Renewable Energy Credit Procurement

11:05 • 7min

Corporate Collaboration for Renewable Energy Procurement

18:05 • 3min

Balancing Cost and Carbon Emissions in Corporate Clean Energy Procurement

21:25 • 3min

Navigating Time-scale Considerations in Clean Energy Procurement

24:16 • 2min

Corporate Sustainable Energy Procurement and Storage Solutions

26:07 • 19min

Achieving Operational Emission Reduction Targets through Renewable Energy Procurement

45:07 • 2min

Christina Yagjian leads global renewable energy strategy and origination at Cargill. According to Forbes, Cargill is the largest private company in the USA by revenue with $177 billion in the fiscal year ending in May, 2023. Before Cargill, Christina managed the renewable energy footprint at Meta, the parent company to Facebook and Instagram and one of the world's largest corporate clean power purchasers.

Our topic today is all about clean power purchasing, why large companies have started buying power directly, how they prioritize their needs across factors like cost and emissions, and how they structure their agreements. This is one of the more complex topics in the climate space, combining carbon accounting with power grid economics and a whole lot of wonk. Cody and Christina keep the conversation accessible to folks who are just trying to understand the role of power consumption, emissions and large companies in the first place. Special thanks to Christina for balancing the need to help explain the overall landscape along with articulating some of Cargill's specific initiatives and focus areas.

In this episode, we cover:

[2:41] Christina's background and journey in renewables
[9:53] Reasons behind corporate power purchases
[11:19] The difference between renewable energy certificates (RECs) and power purchase agreements
[16:08] The role of additionality in power purchase agreements
[22:32] Balancing emissions footprints with the cost of power
[26:07] Role of storage in balancing intermittent renewable resources
[30:12] Challenges and barriers to clean power procurement, such as cost, timing, and market uncertainties
[33:24] Considerations in choosing power generators and negotiating PPAs
[36:51] An overview of virtual power purchase agreements
[43:29] Managing clean power procurement and the need for robust data systems
[45:52] Definition of success in clean power procurement for Cargill

Recorded May 15, 2024 (Published June 3, 2024)

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.

Connect with MCJ:

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant