US bank Wells Fargo has announced a major deal to date on renewable energy, with a 10-year structured energy agreement with Reliant, an NRG Energy company.

The new agreement is the bank’s largest contract to date in support of its corporate strategy to advance the development of new sources of renewable energy in order to meet its electricity needs.

The new agreement will provide solar-derived energy annually to approximately 400 Wells Fargo properties from a new facility in Texas. The agreement is the first significant transaction under Wells Fargo’s strategy to contract with providers of renewable energy resources geographically close to its load centres.

“Transitioning from the purchase of renewable energy certificates to long-term contracts that fund new sources of renewable energy is a critical piece of Wells Fargo’s 2020 renewable energy goal. Through structured retail transactions, like the one we announced today with NRG, we can continue to minimise our impact on the environment while supporting the communities where we work and live,” said Richard Henderson, head of Wells Fargo’s Corporate Properties Group.

As part of its 2020 renewable energy goal, Wells Fargo will expand its on-site renewables portfolio by installing solar technologies on more than 100 corporate, branch, and data facilities across the US.

“Maximising our on-site solar generation is a simple way to help reach our renewable energy goal while enhancing the value of our significant real estate portfolio,” Henderson said. “It’s a tangible demonstration of our corporate citizenship in the communities where we do business.”

In 2018, Wells Fargo made a $200bn sustainable finance commitment until 2030, with at least half of this going toward renewable energy and clean technology projects. In its first year, the company deployed $23bn in sustainable finance, with 63 per cent going toward low-carbon solutions such as renewable energy, green buildings, and clean technologies. Wells Fargo has been meeting all of its global electricity requirements with renewable energy and energy products since 2017, primarily through the purchase of renewable energy certificates. The company is now working to fulfil the second part of that commitment — to transition to a higher mix of long-term electricity contracts and significantly increase deployment of on-site generation in order to support the development of net-new sources of renewable energy by 2020.

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