Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has signed its first virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) in Japan for 63 megawatts (MW) of clean energy from the Rusutsu Wind Power Plant in Hokkaido, Japan. Scheduled to start in September 2025, this VPPA marks the largest in the Hokkaido region and will help Honda advance toward its global clean energy goals.

Honda aims to achieve carbon neutrality across its value chain and is nearing its goal of supplying 100% of the electricity it uses in North America from carbon-free sources. Honda’s 200 MW VPPA with Samson Solar Energy Center in Texas for 482,000 MWh/year of power and 120 MW VPPA with Boiling Springs Wind Farm in Oklahoma for 530,000 MWh/year cover more than 60% of the electricity Honda uses in North America as well as help to reduce the CO₂ emissions from its U.S. auto manufacturing operations.

Honda continues to purchase electricity from the local utility for each manufacturing facility, but receives and retires renewable energy certificates (RECs) equal to the power produced through the VPPAs, resulting in net zero CO₂e emissions from electricity use within Honda’s Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama manufacturing operations. The VPPAs raise the total use of renewable electricity to more than 80% for North America.

A virtual power purchase agreement is a way for Honda to purchase renewable energy in locations where it is unable to purchase renewables from the local electric utility. Honda agrees to purchase electricity from a renewable energy supplier, but the clean energy does not go directly to Honda’s facilities; instead it is sold into the electricity grid where the clean power is generated. However, Honda’s “virtual purchase” of renewable energy adds more clean energy into the nation’s electricity grid. This reduces the amount of electricity generated by fossil fuels, reducing the CO₂ emissions of using electricity.

In addition to the VPPAs, Honda continues its efforts to generate renewable power onsite at its North American operations. To date, Honda has installed 7.3 MW of renewable wind and solar power at its facilities across North America.