VEVEY, SWITZERLAND — Nestle SA is investing in the Jackson County, Texas-based solar project Ganado as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Developed by Enel North America, Ganado is more than 1,482 acres, which is equal to 850 football fields, according to Nestle. The company said its investment will enable Ganado to add 208 megawatts of solar electricity to the US power grid.

Nestle also will purchase 100% of renewable energy attributes generated by Ganado’s energy production, which is estimated to be an average of 333,000 megawatt hours per year for 15 years. The company said this renewable electricity will be used to power many of its US facilities. According to Nestle, the annual carbon emission reduction is expected be about 126,294 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is equal to the emissions of more than 27,200 cars per year. Kate Short, chief procurement officer of Nestle North America, said this investment will add enough solar electricity each year to power about 24,574 homes.

“We will continue to accelerate the use of renewable electricity, including wind and solar, to source 100% renewable electricity across our sites globally by 2025, and to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” said Howard Baker, global head of engineering service and technologies at Nestle. “Our investment in this solar project is an important milestone to achieve these objectives: we will use renewable electricity to help power our US manufacturing facilities, while also contributing to increasing the amount of renewable energy available in the US.”

Nestle’s investment in Ganado builds on the company’s 2020 investment in the US solar project Taygete I.