Initiatives, with existing capacity of 6,62 MWp, are exclusive to deliver energy to the McDonald’s restaurants.

São Paulo, July, 2022 – Arcos Dorados, franchisee responsible for the McDonald’s operation in Latin America and the Caribbean, and EDP, a company present in all the segments of the electricity sector, have just opened three solar plants – one in Cotia (SP) and two in Rio Paranaíba (MG). With an investment of BRL 28,3 million by EDP, the initiatives have an annual capacity for generating 11,726 MWh/year and will serve exclusively the power demand of 28 restaurants of the chain and seven dessert kiosks through a 12-year contract with Arcos Dorados. Moreover, the volume of energy generated by the solar plants will be totally certified by I-REC (International REC Standard), global system through which organizations can prove that the power they consume comes from renewable sources.

The plants occupy an area of 18.5 hectares and will prevent emission of 725 tons of CO2 annually – the equivalent to the plantation of 4,495 trees. The 16,240 photovoltaic panels have tracking technology. This means that the modules move according to the changes in the angle of the solar rays to have a better use of the irradiation.

The use of solar plants is part of a group of initiatives to supply the Arcos Dorados’ restaurants from renewable sources, reinforcing the chain’s commitment to sustainability and the environment. “In Arcos Dorados, we are committed to be an active part of the solution to the challenges of our society, always through the implementation of innovative initiatives. Besides being the right thing to do, it can also be a good business. In addition, associating with EDP, one of the largest companies of the power sector, operating in all the chain of value, can only reinforce this premise. We looked for the best partner for this mission. We believe that one of the main advantages of solar energy for the environment is that it uses organic raw material from nature, in other words, it looks for electricity through the sunlight, besides of course, with less emission of greenhouse gases.”, states Gabriel Serber, Vice-President of Social Impact and Sustainable Development with Arcos Dorados.

The power efficiency initiatives also contribute to the company reaching the defined targets in Recipe for the Future, an ESG company’s strategy, with the reduction by 36% of the emissions of greenhouse gases from their direct operation, besides the 31% of the emissions of all its chain, by 2030. Those goals are related to the first Sustainability Linked Bond issued by the company in April this year. This movement reinforces its commitments and makes it the first in the sector to join a financial instrument to environmental targets. “We know that we must use our representativeness to promote change towards a better world for everyone, and we are increasingly committed to lead a sustainable management of the business. The goal is to expand even more this kind of initiatives”, adds Gabriel.

“The choice for EDP to develop the solar plants that will supply the McDonald’s restaurants highlights the credibility the Company has conquered in relation to offering solutions that, besides contributing to the control of Climate Change, offer more efficiency and savings to our clients”, says João Marques da Cruz, CEO with EDP in Brazil.

Investment in solar energy
Solar generation is among the strategic axes for EDP’s growth in Brazil, by 2025, when the company intends to reach the hallmark of 1 GWp in installed capacity in that modality. With the plants developed for Arcos Dorados, the solar energy portfolio contracted of the company in the country, reaches 241.4 MWp, 104.2 MWp of which are contracts of distributed generation and 137.2 MWp for centralized generation.

According to Absolar, in 2021 Brazil exceeded the hallmark of 13 gigawatts (GW) of installed power in the solar photovoltaic source, 4.6 GW of which in centralized generation and 8.4 GW in distributed generation. Since 2012, there has been an investment of BRL 66.3 billion in the segment. This generated 390 thousand Jobs and BRL 17.1 in tax collection. Since then, the use of solar energy has prevented emission of more than 14.7 million tons of CO2.

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