"At Walmart, our goal is to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy. To do this, we are considering a number of emerging technologies, including Bloom Energy, to ensure they work for our business, help lower costs for our customers, and reduce our impact on the environment. We hope to use our scale to help bring these technologies to market in a fast and cost effective way."
– Bill Simon, Former Chief Executive Officer, Walmart U.S.
Walmart Meets Energy Goals with Bloom Energy Servers
Walmart has recognized the business opportunity and environmental urgency for adopting renewable energy. Accordingly, they are working towards supplying their operations with 100 percent renewable energy.
The deployment of on-site renewable energy generation is a key element to Walmart's corporate sustainability strategy to operate at everyday low cost while being a good steward of the environment. Walmart evaluates their energy vendors with the same rigor applied to all of their suppliers. Consequently, they require a renewable energy solution that cannot only make a major contribution to their sustainability targets and reduce energy costs, but also have the capability to supply continuous power to stores, even during critical grid outages.
Walmart installed its first Bloom Energy Server at its Lancaster, CA store in 2009, and today has more than 30 Bloom installations at stores and distribution centers in California. Most of Walmart's Bloom servers are powered by biogas, resulting in even greater carbon reductions. The electricity provided by Bloom servers varies by location but can provide up to 60-75% of the facilities' electrical load.