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Basel, 19 November 2020 — Novartis today announced the signature of five virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs), which are expected to collectively add more than 275 megawatts of clean power to the electrical grid. This move makes Novartis the first pharmaceutical company set to achieve 100% renewable electricity in its European operations through VPPAs.

“At Novartis, environmental sustainability is aligned with our purpose to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives,” said Montse Montaner, Chief Sustainability Officer at Novartis. “Energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions are the cornerstones of our strategy for reducing emissions. These agreements mark a major milestone on the Novartis environmental sustainability journey to be carbon neutral across its operations by 2025 and across its value chain by 2030."

Under the agreements, wind and solar electricity will be generated from six renewable energy projects being developed by three different providers – Acciona, EDP Renewables and Enel Green Power. All projects will be located in Spain. The projects are expected to be online by 2023 and aim to address the company’s carbon footprint across its European operations over a period of 10 years from the start of operations. This is equivalent to removing approximately 113 000 passenger vehicles from the road each year1. These European agreements follow the VPPA recently implemented with the Santa Rita East windfarm in Texas, US, which currently addresses 100% of the electricity used in our operations in the US and Canada.

"Novartis has demonstrated tremendous and ongoing sustainability leadership in the pharmaceutical industry," said John Powers, Vice President of Global Renewables and Cleantech at Schneider Electric. "Executing five deals allows Novartis to diversify risk across technology, location, counterparty and deal structure making for a balanced portfolio of Spanish renewable energy. We want to congratulate Novartis on this sustainability milestone and shaping a clean energy future."

Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, acted as advisor in the project. Global law firm Baker McKenzie advised Novartis on all legal aspects relating to the VPPAs.

For more information: https://www.novartis.com/our-company/corporate-responsibility/environmental-sustainability