Treasury Wine Estates signs up to renewable energy pledge

Treasury Wine Estates has signed up to a pledge to switch to 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2024 across its global operations.

Treasury Wine Estates CEO Tim Ford. The company’s premium wines — including Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Pepperjack and Wynns — will be made with 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2024. Picture: Aaron Francis

Treasury Wine Estates, the maker of wines such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Lindemans, has announced it is joining the RE100 global renewable power initiative as part of the wine company’s commitment to switch to 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2024 across its global operations.

The company’s premium wines — including Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Pepperjack and Wynns — will be made with 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2024.

As part of its transition to renewable power, Treasury Wine’s chief corporate services officer Kirsten Gray said the company was also taking action to improve energy efficiency and minimise energy use.

“We have more than 12,700 hectares of vineyards globally, so we understand the importance of managing and planning for the impacts of climate change – not only as a global premium wine producer but also as a responsible business that operates in communities all around the world,” Ms Gray said.

“As we all work towards a cleaner world, we’re proud to be one of the early wine industry adopters to join RE100 alongside some of the world’s most influential businesses,” Ms Gray said.

The green pitch by Treasury Wine is becoming a common theme among ASX-listed companies as they spruce up their environmental credentials, placating shareholders and corporate governance groups that grill public companies about key issues around renewable energy and climate change.

In April, Coles ramped up its commitment to obtain 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025 and to deliver net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, by signing two major agreements with leading renewable energy companies. Supermarket group Aldi has already achieved its commitment to power its operations with 100 per cent renewable electricity, six months ahead of schedule.

Treasury Wine has a range of environmentally friendly policies and strategies on its books. It is undertaking work on its winery expansion project in the Barossa to have reduced carbon emissions of 5 per cent, waste to landfill minimisation, recycling initiatives and increased water security including a new dam in the Kalimna vineyards.

At its US Beringer vineyards it has had solar panels for more than 10 years and in 2020 it installed a solar hot water system at its Sonoma Bottling Centre to heat the majority of incoming plant water, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 70.2 metric tonnes annually.

Late last year Treasury Wine’s Lindeman’s wine business achieved carbon neutrality across its core product portfolio in Europe.