Kirin Brewery Completes Installation of Large-scale Solar Power Generators At All Domestic Breweries

● All nine brewery sites now outfitted with large-scale solar power
● Power generation capacity of more than 11MW in total, one of the largest among domestic food companies
● Concrete action in line with RE100 – 100% renewable energy use targets

TOKYO, Friday January 14, 2022 - Kirin Brewery Company, Limited (Kirin Brewery ), a subsidiary of Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (Kirin Holdings), announces now that all nine of its domestic breweries have been installed with large-scale*1 solar power generation systems.
*1: Defined as power generation capacity of 500 kW or more.

Following the introduction at the Yokohama Brewery in 2016, Kirin Brewery has been gradually introducing large-scale solar power generation systems via the PPA model*2 from February of last year in order to promote usage of renewable energy. With the introduction of the PPA model at Kirin Brewery Fukuoka, all domestic breweries will have installed large-scale solar power generation systems. Actual operation at Kirin Brewery Fukuoka is scheduled for March 2022.
*2: PPA: Power Purchase Agreement. PPA model is a business model through which the PPA supplier installs solar power generation equipment on the end user’s premises or facility rooftop free of charge, and the power generated is then sold to the end user.

As a result of these measures, GHG*3 emissions will be reduced by approximately 5,800 tons per year, and the ratio of renewable energy to electricity used by Kirin Brewery as a whole will increase from approximately 18% in 2020 to approximately 34%*4. Going forward, Kirin Holdings will continue to promote the introduction of renewable energy at the Kirin Group's domestic and overseas operations, and in the future aim to replace all of the electricity used in the Kirin Group's operations with renewable energy, and quickly achieving RE100(https://www.there100.org/)*5 compliance.
*3: Greenhouse gases
*4: Includes the effect of converting purchased electricity to renewable energy sources.
*5: RE100 is an international initiative for the environment that is made up of companies aiming to achieve 100% renewable electricity use. The Kirin Group joined the RE100 initiative in November of 2020 and has set forth the goal of shifting to 100% renewable electricity use by 2040.

In recent years, national and corporate efforts to move toward a decarbonized society have accelerated across the world. In line with the Kirin Group Environmental Vision 2050, Kirin Holdings has set a goal of reducing GHG emissions throughout its value chain to net zero by 2050. Kirin Holdings’ basic strategy for reducing GHG emissions toward this goal is a synergy of energy conservation, expansion of renewable energy, energy conversion. While there are various means to increase the ratio of renewable energy, the introduction of large-scale solar power generation equipment will directly and essentially contribute to the decarbonization of society by increasing the capacity of new renewable energy power generation facilities in society and replacing thermal power.

Reducing Emissions and Costs – a Win-Win

Under the PPA model, the supplier will be MCKB Energy Service Co., Ltd. (MCKB), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation Energy Solutions Ltd.(http://www.mc-power.co.jp) (MCES). MCKB will install new megawatt-class solar power systems on the rooftops at each of the breweries, and Kirin Brewery will purchase and use the generated electrical power. This business model eliminates the capital necessary to install the systems on a wide scale while quickly reducing GHG.

Net Zero GHG by 2050

In February 2020, the Kirin Group announced the Kirin Group Environmental Vision 2050 aimed at strengthening the resilience of the group and the global community. In the area of climate change, the Kirin Group will aim to achieve net zero GHG emissions throughout the entire value chain by 2050. In addition, the Kirin Group joined the RE100 Initiative(https://www.there100.org) in November 2020 and will aim to achieve 100% renewable electricity use by 2040. The current initiative is one step forward in achieving this goal, and through further initiatives such as this, the Kirin Group will lead the way toward the establishment of a decarbonized society.

All nine Kirin Brewery sites in Japan to install large-scale solar power generation systems

Other Environmental Commitments

Kirin Holdings has set a high goal of reducing the total of Scope 1 and Scope 2 by 50% and Scope 3 by 30% by 2030 compared to 2019. In 2020, Kirin Holdings obtained approval for the Science-based Targets (SBT)*6 initiative’s (SBTi(https://sciencebasedtargets.org/))*7 ‘1.5°C target.’ For details, see Actions regarding climate change.
*6: Greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set by companies for five to 15 years in the future, consistent with the levels required by the Paris Agreement (which aims to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius).
*7: An initiative established in 2015 by the CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and WWF.

Along with conducting far-reaching energy conservation activities, the Kirin Group is promoting initiatives to reduce GHG emissions throughout the value chain, including installing highly-efficient heat pumps, reducing the weight of containers, promoting joint deliveries of products, and switching from traditional energy sources to renewable energies. This includes increasing the use of renewable energies such as solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power and electric power generation using biogas from wastewater treatment processes. Outside of Japan, Lion Pty Ltd, a Kirin Group company acquired Australasia's first large-scale carbon neutral certification in May 2020.

In addition, in 2018, Kirin Holdings became the first Japanese food company to endorse Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD(https://www.fsb-tcfd.org)*8) recommendations, and Kirin Holdings is actively engaged in scenario analysis and other information disclosure.
*8: Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. https://www.fsb-tcfd.org.

Furthermore, in June of 2020, the Kirin Group signed the United Nations Global Compact’s Business ambition for 1.5°C(https://www.unglobalcompact.org/take-action/events/climate-action-summit-2019/business-ambition). This is a declaration of its commitment to revise upward its mid-term GHG reduction targets to achieve net zero GHG emissions in the long term.

About Kirin Holdings

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is an international company that operates in the Food & Beverages domain (Food & Beverages businesses), Pharmaceuticals domain (Pharmaceuticals businesses), and Health Science domain (Health Science business), both in Japan and across the globe.
Kirin Holdings can trace its roots to Japan Brewery which was established in 1885. Japan Brewery became Kirin Brewery in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s, all of which continue to be global growth centers. In 2007, Kirin Holdings was established as a pure holding company and is currently focusing on boosting its Health Science domain.
Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the Kirin Group aims to become “A global leader in CSV*, creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals.” Going forward, the Kirin Group will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.

* Creating Shared Value: combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.