Anheuser-Busch partnered with ForeFront Power to develop solar energy systems at eight breweries in its Brewers Collective unit, totaling 2.4 MWdc scattered across the country. The solar projects are all part of a company-wide commitment from Anheuser-Busch to purchase 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources – a goal it achieved four years early.
In Chicago, ForeFront Power installed a 377 kilowatt-DC (kW-DC) rooftop solar array atop Goose Island’s Barrel House. Goose Island opened in 1988, and in 2014 opened the Barrel House, a state-of-the-art, 139,000 sq. foot brewing facility and event space that is home to over 15,000 barrels, all within a historic Art Deco brick warehouse. The rooftop solar array will generate 484,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, helping Goose Island avoid 750,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. This is roughly equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 420 acres of forest in one year.
At Long Island’s Blue Point Brewing Co., ForeFront Power installed a 217 kW-DC rooftop solar array atop the brewery’s 54,000 sq. foot facility in Patchogue, NY. The completion of the solar project marks an important milestone in Blue Point Brewing’s decades-long sustainability program. The solar project will generate over 285,000 kWh of electricity annually, the equivalent of 247 acres of U.S. forestry conserved.
ForeFront Power has also completed solar energy installations at Virtue Cider in Fennville, MI., Breckenridge Brewery in Littleton, CO, Devils Backbone Brewing Co. in Lexington, VA, Four Peaks Brewing Co., in Tempe, AZ, Karbach Brewing Co. in Houston, and 10 Barrel Brewing Co. in Bend, OR. Combined, these solar energy systems total 2.4 megawatt-DC (MWdc) and will help Anheuser-Busch avoid over 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year.