Commercial, Solar, Sourcing Renewables, Wind  -  February 24, 2020

Turkish banking institution goes 100% renewable

Garanti BBVA, a Turkish-based global financial institution, announced Feb. 24 that they will source all of the 90 million kWh used in 813 branches and 45 corporate buildings from 100% renewable energy sources by the end of 2020.

According to the 100% Renewable Energy Agreement that the bank signed, they will reduce their emissions by 45,000 tons of CO2. Additionally, the company will earn the right to all the carbon certificates of the Gold Standard category.

"With this 100% Renewable Energy Agreement, we’re rolling up our sleeves even more to support sustainability," Garanti BBVA CEO Recep Baştuğ said in a statement.  "This agreement clearly shows that the sustainable economy is not only part of our corporate culture, but that it has been successfully integrated across our infrastructure as a whole. With this move toward 100 percent renewable energy, we’re convinced that we’re setting a new benchmark for the whole banking sector."

As part of their commitment to sustainability, since 2015 the bank has also made $5 billion in investments in wind power in Turkey and in December 2019 issued a 5-year $50 million green bond. Garanti BBVA has also received LEED certification at its buildings and invested in three solar farms that provide power to different banking locations.

Between 2018 and 2019, Garanti BBVA issued a total of €30 billion in funding for sustainability projects.