Environmental Protection Agency Honors MilliporeSigma With a 2024 Green Power Leadership Award
MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has won a 2024 Green Power Leadership Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The company was honored for its commitment to renewable energy and advancing the green power market nationwide through innovative and impactful initiatives supporting sustainable operations.
Making progress towards its goal to achieve climate neutrality across its entire value chain by 2040, covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, judges recognized recent MilliporeSigma accomplishments, including:
- Matching 100% of its U.S. electricity consumption with renewable energy through a 68-megawatt (MW) offtake by participating in one of the largest buyer-organized aggregation deals in the world—a 12-year, off-site, virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Enel Green Power.
- Installing 7,000 solar panels across approximately 11 acres of land on MilliporeSigma’s Sheboygan, Wisconsin campus in partnership with We Energies. The solar panels add 2.25 MW to the grid, producing enough energy to power nearly 700 homes.
- Building a 5.9 MW biomass central heat plant at its site in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, which uses renewable woodchips for 100% of its heating needs, replacing the use of 400,000 gallons of oil annually.
Since 2009, MilliporeSigma has installed a combined 2.28 MW of owned on-site solar at several locations globally, including the U.S., India, Germany and France. Additionally, in 2023, it signed two VPPAs in Europe that are expected to match 100% of its European electricity needs starting in 2026. Also, in 2023, MilliporeSigma’s two manufacturing sites in China signed 10-year purchase power agreements that will match 80% of the sites’ electricity with renewables.
Looking ahead, MilliporeSigma is not slowing down its sustainability efforts. The company is installing two solar photovoltaic systems in the U.S.—one in Visalia, California, which is anticipated to cover 100% of the site’s electric consumption, and one at its Milwaukee, Wisconsin warehouse.
Further, MilliporeSigma plans to invest approximately $100 million in site sustainability improvements by 2030 through EDISON—its energy- and water-efficiency program. In 2023, EDISON completed more than 60 projects globally, avoiding 35,000 megawatt hours of energy, preventing 7,000 tons of CO2 emissions, and conserving more than 30,000 cubic meters of water.
To learn more about how MilliporeSigma is reducing environmental impact across its value chain through renewable electricity efforts, supplier engagement, and more, please visit its Sustainable Operations webpage.
View the complete list of this year’s EPA Green Power Leadership awards on the EPA’s website.
