ACCIONA has signed an agreement with Banco Santander, through the ClimateTrade platform, to offset 145,000 tons of CO2 by transferring Certified Emissions Reduction certificates (CERs) from the group’s Oaxacas wind farm complex in Mexico. With this transaction, ACCIONA is contributing to Banco Santander’s goal of becoming carbon neutral in 2020 by offsetting approximately half of the entity’s overall emissions.
The electronic ClimateTrade emissions trading platform uses blockchain to ensure traceability, security and transparency throughout the process of offsetting emissions. ACCIONA is a pioneer in this market, where the group’s clean energy projects are available to companies of all sizes that seek to offset their CO2 emissions.
CERs are carbon credits, backed by the United Nations (UN), that enable the offsetting of emissions through clean development projects. This Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is included in the Kyoto Protocol as a way to stimulate sustainable development and emission reductions.
The Oaxacas wind farm complex is one of ACCIONA’s projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It’s located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico. The complex consists of three wind farms (306MW) that produce renewable electricity equivalent to the consumption of 700,000 Mexican homes. The project also supports an extensive socioeconomic program in the surrounding region.