JBS, a Brazil-based meat processing company, announced that its 45 MW thermoelectric project in the city of São Paulo has qualified to issue International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-REC).

Across the world, industries are pivoting to clean energy procurement to not only earn green attributes but to also qualify for exporting goods to various countries, some of which have either enacted stringent norms for green products or are in the process of forming similar legislations.

The company claims to be the first in the global food sector to have qualified for issuing I-RECs according to the International REC standard, proving the generation of electricity comes from renewable and environmentally responsible sources.

The I-RECs are purchased by industries and commercial establishments to meet their renewable purchase obligations for powering their operations using sources such as solar, wind, thermal, and biomass-powered projects,

They also help the certificate holders to neutralize their Scope-2 emissions, which are indirect CO2 emissions associated with the purchase of electricity for their own use. It helps companies achieve their decarbonization and net zero goals.

The thermoelectric project called Biolins uses various types of biomasses as raw material for power generation, such as sugarcane bagasse, orange tree chips, reforested eucalyptus chips, peanut shells, eucalyptus bark, rice hulls, and sawdust.

Based on the energy generated by the project in 2021, it can issue 113,400 certificates for the past year.

The project currently supports 20% of JBS’ electricity requirements in Brazil and generates enough electricity to power a city with 300,000 inhabitants.

It was built to supply steam and electricity to the industrial complex of JBS in Lins and inject the surplus energy into the National Interconnected System.

“This is an important milestone because it certifies that Biolins is environmentally clean and that it injects energy from a 100% renewable source into the National Interconnected System (SIN).  This means that the holders of I-RECs issued by Biolins can prove that the energy consumed in their operations is clean,” said the Director of Sustainability at JBS Brazil, Maurício Bauer.

The company has set a goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and plans to invest $1 billion by 2030 to decarbonize its direct and indirect operations, out of which $100 million will be utilized for research and development of solutions to make farming more sustainable.

In Brazil, I-RECs are officially issued by Instituto Totum, an organization responsible development, and management of the renewable energy voluntary certification system.

In India, the demand for renewables has seen a huge rise amongst Commercial and Industrial (C&I) consumers, to support their energy needs as well as meet the net-zero goals.

According to a recent report by Wood Mackenzie, India led the corporate renewable energy procurement market in the Asia Pacific region for the second consecutive year by procuring 8.1 GW of capacity.

Mercom India hosts the C&I Clean Energy Meets throughout the year, bringing the C&I segment face-to-face with green energy developers and financiers specializing in designing, implementing, and funding renewable energy solutions.