Schneider Electric announced that Google, ASM and HP have joined the Catalyze program, which aims to accelerate access to renewable energy across the global semiconductor value chain and IT supply landscape, as new global sponsors.

The first-of-its-kind program was first announced in July, with sponsors Intel and Applied Materials. The announcement that three more leading technology companies have now joined as founding sponsors coincides with the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Dubai.

Catalyze encourages suppliers from throughout the semiconductor industry ecosystem to collaborate to transition their value chain to renewable sources of energy. Participants are encouraged to make commitments to decarbonization and take collective action through the procurement of renewable energy, leveraging the purchasing power of buyer cohorts.

The energy transition within the value chain is imperative. According to a recent study by the SEMI Semiconductor Climate Consortium, the semiconductor industry’s carbon footprint was equivalent to 500Mt of CO2 in 2021—with 16% coming from the supply chain. By transitioning suppliers onto lower-carbon sources of energy and supporting them in other decarbonization actions like electrification, the industry can make a significant impact in its overall Scope 3 emissions.

The Catalyze program strives, inter alia, to combine energy purchasing power across the semiconductor value chain to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy projects and provide suppliers – who may not have the capacity on their own – with the opportunity to participate in the market for utility-scale power purchase agreements (PPAs).