Walmart has more than 180 renewable energy projects in operation or development around the world, generating enough

energy to power 78,000 American homes annually. Here are a few ways were working to become powered by 100% renewable energy.

Producing our own renewable energy

Walmart is a leader in testing and scaling renewable energy projects in our stores, including solar, micro-wind on our parking lots, biodiesel generators and fuel cells. These locally generated power sources have the potential to meet up to 60% of a stores energy needs. Examples include:

Download Hi-Res Photo Red Bluff, Calif. wind turbine

150 solar installations in seven countries, delivering 71 million kilowatt hours of energy annually to our stores, clubs and distribution centers enough to take 9,600 vehicles off the road for a year. In California alone, 75% of our facilities will use some form of renewable energy by the end of 2012. 26 fuel cell installations in the U.S., delivering 65 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually. We are testing onsite micro-wind, large-scale wind, solar water heating, as well as solar thermal in various markets, including Canada, Chile, China, Mexico and the U.S.

Purchasing green energy to power our stores

Weve changed the way we buy power by going directly to the source. Through long-term power purchase agreements (PPA), were supporting renewable energy developers and, ultimately, driving down the cost of clean energy for everyone. We have five off-site utility wind projects, including: 348 stores in Mexico supplied by wind power via Elctrica del Valle de Mexico. This provides 17% of Walmart Mexicos energy needs and has reduced carbon emissions by an estimated 137,240 tons annually. 350 stores in Texas receive up to 15% of their electricity needs from Duke Energys wind farm in Notrees, Texas. 14 stores in Northern Ireland are supplied by wind power.

Improving the grid

Were committed to working with stakeholders to make the grid as renewable as possible, as fast as possible. In three markets, for example, weve participated in green power purchase programs, resulting in more than 500 million hours of renewable energy annually.

The La Mata Ventosa wind farm will have a capacity of 67.5MW and is EDF's first wind project in Mexico. It is located in the Tehuantepec isthmus, where all four of the country's 2009 wind farms were based. Clipper Windpower is to supply 27 2.5MW turbines for the site. Clipper and EDF subsidiary enXco will be responsible for operations and maintenance. EDF said it has signed a 15-year supply agreement with Walmart Mexico. The deal was been done under Mexico's self-supply rules, which allow the purchaser to take as much electricity from the grid as they are putting back in. Self-supply power contracts enable wind developers to circumvent rules prohibiting private investment in power generation for general supply to the national grid and are proving to be a novel way to bring new wind online.

IDB to finance historic expansion of wind power in Mexico

$101 million in loans for two projects will supply clean electricity through unprecedented partnerships between Cemex, Walmart, Spanish and French power companies, multilateral lenders and local communities
The Inter-American Development Bank approved $101 million in partial financing for two wind power projects totaling 318 MW in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, that will help establish a critical mass of renewable energy in the country, provide clean energy to private companies, and generate jobs and payments to low-income rural communities.

The projects are part of Mexicos strategy to diversify its energy matrix while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This strategy, spelled out in

legislation approved in November 2008, includes a Special Program to Exploit Renewable Energy and Special Climate Change Program that will contribute to the countrys aspirational goal, proposed by President Felipe Caldern, of reducing emissions by 50% of their year 2000 levels by 2050. The IDB Board approved a $50 million loans for the 250.5 MW Eurus wind farm currently under development by Acciona Energa Mxico (AEM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Spains Acciona Energa, S.A. This is by far the largest wind power project ever built in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mexicos Cemex, a global producer of cement and concrete, is an equity partner in the Eurus project and will purchase all its electricity under a 20year self-supply power purchase agreement. Cemex expects Eurus and other self-supply projects to meet a significant percentage of the energy needs of its Mexico operations.

The IDB will also facilitate an additional loan of up to $30 million from the Clean Technology Fund of the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) for the Eurus project, whose total cost will be close to $600 million. Additional long-term financing is expected to be approved for the project by other multilateral lenders, development finance institutions and commercial banks.

The IDB separately approved up to 280 million Mexican pesos (approximately $21 million) for a 67.5 MW wind farm currently under development by Elctrica del Valle de Mxico, S. de R.L. de C.V., (EVM) an affiliate of EDF Energies Nouvelles S.A. of France. Four subsidiaries of Wal-Mart de Mxico, one of the countrys largest retail chains, will purchase electricity from this project under 15-year self-supply power purchase agreements, as part of Wal-Marts goal of using 100 percent renewable power in its Mexico operations.

The IDB loan, combined with credits expected from multilateral and bilateral lenders, could cover as much as $103 million of the EVM projects $190 million total cost.

These projects are the fruit of Mexicos pioneering strategy to support regulatory and financial conditions in which renewable power can improve energy security while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. They also show that even in a financial crisis, creative partnerships between governments, private companies and development finance institutions can lead to pathbreaking investments that simultaneously advance human development and lowcarbon economic growth.

Both projects have included certified emission reduction credits in their plans. The Eurus project will benefit from the sale of carbon credits for a total of 600,000 tons of avoided CO2 emissions per year. The EVM project is currently in the process of obtaining credits for up to 168,000 tons of avoided C02 emissions per year.

The land on which the turbines of both projects are located has been leased from local ejidos, a traditional Mexican system of communal land ownership that is widespread in the countrys rural areas. These projects will generate jobs and a steady flow of income from leases for these communities.

Both projects will take advantage of strong winds in the state Oaxaca, which is considered to have some of the planets best wind power potential. Mexico plans to develop at least 2500 MW of wind power capacity in this state. Permits to develop some 2000 MW (including the ones partly financed by the IDB) have already been issued to private developers. The Mexican government estimates that a total of around $5 billion will be invested to build these new wind farms by 2012, and that they will meet approximately 4 percent of the countrys electricity demand. Some 10,000 jobs will be generated directly and indirectly during the construction of these facilities, and around 374 permanent jobs will be created for operation and maintenance.

Overview: When Walmart de Mxico y Centroamrica decided to buy the power generated by the Electrica del Valle de Mxicos (EVM) wind farm, EVMs struggling project received a significant boost. While the proposed wind farm was located in an area with abundant wind resources, absent a creditworthy offtaker the project would not have been able to line up financing. With Walmart de Mxicos 15-year PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) in hand, the developers were able to gain financial backing, buy and erect the turbines, and begin generating electricity by 2010. For Walmart de Mxico, becoming the wind farms off-taker accomplished a number of important objectives. EVM guaranteed electricity at below the rates charged by Mexicos state-controlled utility, shaving costs for the famously thrifty retailer. In addition, the project allowed Walmart de Mxico to get closer to some of its sustainability goals. The wind farm would supply electricity to 348 Walmart de Mxico facilities in central Mexico, providing 18% of the electricity Walmart de Mxico consumed in Mexico in 2010. The wind farm was just one part of the efforts Walmart de Mxico was undertaking in the sustainability area. The company had pledged to meet ambitious goals, looking to reduce waste in its and its suppliers' operations. In the energy area, the company was hoping to receive 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2015, even in a period of rapid growth, increasing its square footage in Mexico by 12% in 2012 alone. All told, the efforts of Walmart de Mxico had made it the worlds leading retailer in the area of sustainabilitya distinction the company hoped to build on. The success of the EVM wind farm had ignited Manuel Gmez Peas thinking about further renewable energy projects. Gmez, Walmart de Mxicos Director of Sustainability, was considering ways the project financing structure might be further adapted to allow Walmart de Mxico to participate in and benefit from other projects. Gmez was also considering the mix of renewable energy sources. In addition to wind, solar and minihydroelectric projects were possibilities that Walmart de Mxico could consider. Any project that Walmart de Mxico undertook had to work in concert with Mexicos electricity grid and rate-making structure. Mexicos political leadership had

announced a commitment to electricity from renewable energy sources, to move the country away from its traditional reliance on natural gas and oil. Mexicos government-controlled electricity utility had simplified the transmission rates for renewable energy and had constructed a few projects of its own. However, there were no special feed-in-tariffs for renewable energy and only a few tax incentives for the construction of renewable energy projects. Furthermore, there was a dearth of independent project developers with the resources and expertise to build large-scale projects. Gmez also had to take into account Walmart de Mxicos capabilities and focus. While the company had made sustainability a priority, corporate officials were loathe to take on projects that took them too far from the companys central activity of retailing. The companys investment group analyzed sustainability projects on the same basis as any other project, concentrating on return on investment. Gmez believed that the situation called for creative thinking. How could the company leverage its sterling credit rating to get renewable energy projects off the ground? For the EVM wind farm, Walmart de Mxico's equity investment was minimal, just sufficient to meet the requirements for Mexico's self-supply tariff. Should the company take a larger equity position in further energy projects, rather than simply serving as an off-taker? What technologies should Walmart de Mxico employ to achieve its renewable energy goals? Should the company hold a portfolio of projects or just concentrate on one technology? How could Walmart de Mxico expand the program outside of Mexico to the other central American countries in which it operated? Was there a way to include suppliers into a renewable program?