How Thermo Fisher Achieved 100% Renewable Energy in Europe
Biotech giant Thermo Fisher Scientific continues to push the envelope in achieving and surpassing its climate targets.
Under the leadership of Marc Casper, the firm's Chairman, President and CEO, Thermo Fisher is committed to decarbonisation.
“We are driven by a profound mission to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer,” he says.
“We also understand our obligation goes beyond enabling our customers' success and extends to making the world a better place by supporting our communities, being a good steward of our planet and creating a great work environment for our colleagues.”
“I am proud of what we've accomplished so far and deeply grateful to our global team for their passion for fulfilling our mission and delivering on our commitments to society.”
In its latest step towards sustainability, Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced a partnership with X-ELIO, an international renewable energy developer.
The collaboration centres on a 10-year solar virtual power purchasing agreement (VPPA) aimed at fully transitioning its European operations to renewable energy sources.
Driving towards renewable energy in healthcare
At the centre of this agreement between Thermo Fisher and X-ELIO is the Lorca solar project, expected to go live in early 2026.
This project (alongside the Serbal solar initiative) will ensure that all of Thermo Fisher's European sites are powered by 100% renewable electricity.
The Lorca project alone, in which Thermo Fisher holds a 73MW share, is poised to generate roughly 150,000MWh of renewable electricity annually.
This output is enough to power more than 40,000 European homes each year and it speaks to the huge leap Thermo Fisher is taking towards its target of securing 80% global renewable electricity by 2030.
Several leading pharmaceutical corporations — including GSK, Gilead Sciences and Haleon — have been involved in this agreement.
Thermo Fisher is leading the charge, though, promoting collaborative efforts to achieve a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 from a 2018 baseline.
“We accelerate our collective progress toward net zero collective emissions when we collaborate with our customers and suppliers,” says Konrad Bauer, Senior Vice President of Global Business Services at Thermo Fisher.
“Achieving 100% renewable electricity for our European sites is a significant milestone on our journey, and as a cohort lead for this agreement facilitated by the Energize initiative, we are committed to leveraging our experience and insights to help enable similar milestones for our partners."
The Energize initiative
Launched in 2021, the Energize initiative is an innovative programme managed by Schneider Electric along with the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative.
It aims to promote renewable energy adoption across the pharmaceutical industry by focusing on the reduction of Scope 2 and 3 emissions.
Thermo Fisher, along with many of its corporate counterparts, is a key player in this initiative.
By equipping suppliers with knowledge and means to engage in renewable energy markets, particularly through PPAs, Energize is helping to carve a path for industry-wide sustainable transformation.
“Making the most out of our energy and resources is crucial as we collectively move toward more sustainable solutions across industries and around the world,” explains John Powers, Vice President of Global Renewables at Schneider Electric.
“The Energize programme aims to drive supply chain decarbonisation across the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries while serving as a playbook for other sectors as they look to power their operations with renewable energy.”
Sustainability milestones at Thermo Fisher
At Sustainability LIVE: London 2024, Chris Shanahan, VP of Global Sustainability and Supply Chain at Thermo Fisher, told us about the role developing technologies have to play in decarbonisation.
“So, as you think about the evolution of technology to really get after decarbonisation, you do need new technologies to come into play and I think that's the challenge out there for the industry,” he says.
In 2023, Thermo Fisher set a global renewable electricity commitment aligning with the SMI Health Systems Task Force joint supplier standards, building upon their enhanced target to slash Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2018.
The company also aims to transition all its US facilities to 100% renewable electricity by 2026, demonstrating its leadership in driving sustainability within the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.
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