Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. has launched its on-site microgrid system at six California bakeries. 

The system was developed as part of an Energy Services Agreement with GreenStruxure, which designed and built the microgrids comprised of solar arrays coupled with battery storage.

These six microgrid systems are providing nearly 20% of Bimbo Bakeries USA’s energy usage and saving the company an estimated 1,700 CO2e tons per year. GreenStruxure, which operates and maintains the system, gives Bimbo Bakeries USA full transparency on the portfolio’s performance through its digital platform, including zero carbon energy, peak demand management and optimized use of energy from the grid and its on-site system.

“It is our responsibility, as part of Grupo Bimbo – the world’s largest baking company – to be a leader in sustainability,” says Chris Wolfe, Bimbo Bakeries USA’s senior director of environmental sustainability. “Our goal is to protect and preserve the planet. The microgrid systems at these six bakeries are another step in lowering our overall carbon footprint.”

The six California bakeries – Montebello, Placentia, Oxnard, San Luis Obispo, South San Francisco and Sacramento – were chosen based on their energy intensity, increasing utility electricity costs and highest decarbonization impact. The companies are also working on additional sites for future deployment.

“Our new microgrid systems will help contribute to California’s efforts to expand the use of renewable energy in the State,” says Kevin Yavari, Bimbo Bakeries USA’s senior manager of corporate sustainability. “We support the state’s clean energy mission and will continue to look for ways we can back these efforts.”

To recognize this momentous achievement in the company’s sustainability commitments, Bimbo Bakeries USA hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Montebello bakery, home to the largest of the six microgrids.

“We are excited to be partnering with Bimbo Bakeries USA in their decarbonization journey,” says GreenStruxure CEO Jose Lorenzo Lista. “Our standardized and modular onsite microgrid supplies clean, reliable and affordable energy. It comes with a best-in-class AI platform Beyondthegrid for energy and asset management. Together, we're shaping a more sustainable future.”

Bimbo Bakeries USA, a member of RE100, is an EPA Green Power Partner and has been recognized as an EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for six consecutive years. In 2022, Bimbo Bakeries USA won the Green Power Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for outstanding clean energy initiatives and impact on the green power market.