Salesforce purchases 280|000MWh of blockchain-based RECs

Customer relationship management company Salesforce has contracted with renewable developer Powertrust for 280,000MWh of renewable energy certificates over the next eight years.

The purchase is in the form of distributed renewable energy certificates (D-RECs), a new financial mechanism designed to support the growth of small scale distributed projects in emerging market countries.

The D-RECs initiative was launched by Powertrust and South Pole Carbon Asset Management in 2020 as what was intended to become an international mechanism to certify and value distributed renewable electricity projects.

As such it represents an extension of the long standing REC market but whereas one REC represent 1MWh, one D-REC represents 1kWh.

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Subsequently the D-RECs have become a multi-stakeholder open source initiative and has been recognised by the UN Development Programme to support progress towards the sustainable development goal 7 of universal access.

With its purchase Salesforce is committing to match 100% of its electricity use with renewables and the investment is expected to deliver an estimated $65 million in distributed projects in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia among others.

“Nearly 95% of corporate renewable energy purchases today take place in North America and Europe. We need to ensure the rest of the world isn’t left behind,” said Megan Lorenzen, who leads power sector decarbonisation for Salesforce.

The focus of Salesforce’s D-RECs purchase will be on procuring projects in non-traditional markets where they can help to deliver social and environmental benefits.

Potential projects within this portfolio include solar powered microgrids for remote communities along the Amazon river in Brazil and in a mountainous area in eastern India, a solar-storage installation at a hospital in an African country and a solar-microhydro paired installation in rural Malaysia.

As part of its decarbonisation activities, Salesforce also is a member of the Emissions First Partnership, which is calling for accounting standards to shift to allow support of corporate procurements beyond the traditional markets of North America and Europe.

The D-REC is not itself a standard but is closely aligned to the international REC standard. The D-REC platform includes both off-chain and on-chain components, with the latter built on the Energy Web chain.