GIGATON PPA

Walmart’s Project Gigaton has inspired its suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to achieve a central goal: avoid one billion metric tons (a gigaton) of greenhouse gases from the global value chain by 2030.

A new renewable energy initiative—the Gigaton PPA (GPPA) Program—directly supports Project Gigaton’s purpose. Its goal is to accelerate renewable energy adoption and enable bold climate action via an aggregate power purchase agreement (PPA).

This signature program will enable Walmart suppliers to join a first-of-its kind, aggregated approach to collective contracting for renewable energy, giving suppliers who may not otherwise be able to participate in the market access to utility-scale PPAs.

Here is how the GPPA Program works:

• Step 1: Register

  First, indicate your interest in the program by clicking the Start Registration button at the bottom of this website. You will then be redirected to the Project Gigaton portal where you will login with your supplier Retail Link credentials to gain access to the GPPA Program page within the portal. You can then click "Sign Up Now" to access the GPPA program registration page where you will submit a simple registration form. Registering at this stage only commits your organization to wanting to learn more.

• Step 2: Learn

  Shortly after registration, you will receive an invitation to an onboarding process and be provided access to the GPPA Education Portal. This portal contains materials designed to help you and your organization learn more about PPAs. For instance, what are the fundamentals of renewable energy contracts? How can Walmart suppliers unify to secure competitive energy prices while demonstrating climate leadership?

• Step 3: Share

  Once you have entered the GPPA Education Portal, you will be asked to share specific details about your business—such as the size of your energy load—through a confidential onboarding process. This information will be used to assess your long-term fit with the PPA opportunities available through this program.

• Step 4: Determine

  Once you complete the PPA curriculum, your company and the Schneider Electric GPPA program team will determine whether continued participation in the program is right for you. If it is, you will advance to the next level of the program: exploration of a PPA purchase alongside other Walmart suppliers via a buyer’s group.

Walmart, one of the world’s leading corporate renewable energy purchasers, collaborated with Schneider Electric to offer the GPPA program to suppliers. Verify your Retail Link credentials to register.

What is a renewable energy PPA, and why do companies like Walmart value it as a mechanism for carbon reduction?

A PPA for renewable energy is generally a long-term contract (typically 10-20 years) between a clean energy developer and a creditworthy buyer. PPAs enable renewable energy developers to secure financing for new wind or solar projects and allow buyers to lock in predictable electricity pricing from clean energy sources.

Historically, buyers of PPAs have included utilities and power traders. However, over the past decade, corporate PPA buyers have collectively purchased more than 52 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy via PPAs. Most of these corporate renewable energy deals have been executed on an enterprise-scale by large organizations, such as Walmart.

PPAs are attractive to corporate buyers for several reasons. They can provide corporates with favorable economics relative to other energy sources. They can also help companies reduce environmental impact and demonstrate sustainability leadership.

However, it can be challenging for many organizations to participate in large-scale PPAs based on the size of their energy load and their credit.

Thanks to the leadership of Walmart, the Gigaton PPA (GPPA) offers participating Walmart suppliers the opportunity to partner together to purchase a PPA via a buyer’s group model. Under this model, smaller tranches of a large-scale PPA will be made available for purchase by the individual program participants. For illustrative purposes only, this could mean that, together, 10 Walmart suppliers could each purchase a 10 megawatt tranche of a 100 megawatt wind power project.*

As a Walmart supplier, your organization plays a pivotal role in achieving the Project Gigaton goal of avoiding one billion metric tons of greenhouse gases from the global value chain by 2030. We invite you to register for the GPPA program to learn more about how your organization can accelerate its renewable energy goals. Please note that registering for the program only commits your organization to wanting to learn more.

*Actual PPA size, price, and contract structure will vary based on program participants and project availability.

1. What is Project Gigaton? Project Gigaton is a Walmart initiative to engage suppliers in climate action along with NGOs and other stakeholders. The goal of Project Gigaton is to avoid one billon metric tons, or one gigaton, of emissions from the Walmart global value chain by 2030. Read more here.

2. What is the Gigaton PPA? The Gigaton PPA (GPPA) program directly supports the goal of Walmart’s Project Gigaton. Its name is derived from the initiative and a renewable energy "Power Purchase Agreement." The program is designed to provide suppliers with information about renewable energy purchases, and the opportunity to participate in an aggregation approach to contract for renewable energy. Walmart collaborated with Schneider Electric to offer the GPPA program to suppliers. Read here for program details.

3. What is a PPA? A power purchase agreement (PPA) for renewable energy is generally a long-term contract (typically 10-20 years) between a renewable energy developer and a creditworthy buyer(s). PPAs enable renewable energy developers to secure financing for new wind or solar projects and generally allow buyers to purchase renewable energy in a cost-competitive manner. Read on here for detail.

4. What is renewable energy aggregation? The main approach of GPPA is to "aggregate" participating Walmart supplier electricity demand into appropriately sized and diversified groups, that will go-to-market together to procure energy from new renewable energy projects. This renewable energy aggregation approach aims to create more buying opportunities for smaller companies while reducing costs by leveraging collective buying power and sharing some of the transactional costs.

5. Is this a global program? GPPA is open to all Walmart’s direct suppliers who are already registered for Project Gigaton. At this time, the program is geared towards suppliers with U.S.-based electrical load.

6. What is Schneider Electric and what is its role in the GPPA program? Walmart is collaborating with Schneider Electric—who will design, coordinate, and implement the GPPA program. Schneider Electric is one of the world’s leading advisors on corporate renewable energy purchasing, having consulted on more than eight gigawatts of new wind and solar PPAs since 2014—including Walmart’s own projects. As an independent advisor, Schneider Electric focuses on helping corporate clients understand the costs, benefits, risks, and opportunities of all types of renewable energy contracts. Schneider Electric will coordinate GPPA renewable energy project sourcing and provide supplier education and engagement.

7. Why is it important for my organization to register? Registering for the GPPA enables your organization to learn more about renewable energy options in a low-pressure way, supported by Schneider Electric. By registering, you’ll join a cohort of other suppliers learning about how to use PPAs to secure competitive energy prices while demonstrating climate leadership.

8. What does the registration process require? Registration is simple. First, click the Start Registration button at the bottom of this website. You will then be redirected to the Project Gigaton portal where you will login with your supplier Retail Link credentials to gain access to the GPPA Program page within the portal. You can then click “Sign Up Now” to access the GPPA Program registration page where you will submit a simple registration form. Shortly after registration, you will receive an invitation to an onboarding process from a Schneider Electric representative and be provided access to the GPPA Education Portal. There is no obligation to participate.

9. Is there a deadline to register? No. Suppliers can register at any time, but we encourage early participation.

10. Do I need to be a Walmart supplier to register? Yes, and be a Project Gigaton supplier. If you are not currently a Project Gigaton supplier, please reach out to your Walmart sustainability contact representative about joining Project Gigaton.

11. What will I have to do after registration? Once you have registered and been sent your login credentials, you will be contacted to schedule an onboarding call with Schneider Electric after which you will be able to access the GPPA Education Portal to learn more about the program. It is designed to help you assess whether your organization would benefit from participating in a PPA purchase alongside other participating Walmart suppliers via a buyer’s group. You will also be asked to confidentially share details about your business that will allow Schneider Electric to assess your fit for the program. Walmart will not receive or review this information.

12. I have questions. Who can I talk to? Contact the Schneider Electric program team via email at gigatonppa@se.com.