Employees on our Environment, Safety, Health and Sustainability team provide a behind-the-scenes look at how our company is expanding its use of renewable electricity to create a sustainable future
An hour south of Dallas, acres of solar panels stretch as far as the eye can see, absorbing the sun’s energy and converting it to electricity as dawn breaks. A few hours west, massive wind turbines awaken, their blades slowly cutting through the morning breeze. These sites share a common purpose: making our operations more sustainable.
In 2024, we announced new environmental sustainability targets with the goal of sourcing 100% renewable electricity for our 300mm manufacturing operations by 2025, and most recently, we committed to the Science Based Targets initiative. Other key milestones are on the books for 2027 and 2030 — reaching 100% use of renewable electricity in all of our U.S. and global operations, respectively.
“Our ambition to be a company that we’re personally proud to be a part of and that we would want as our neighbor guides our work to create a sustainable future here in Texas and around the world,” said Heidi Means, the leader of Environment, Safety, Health (ESH) and Sustainability – a team that drives environmental sustainability initiatives at our company. “It’s exciting to be a part of a company that is taking actionable steps, such as investing in renewable electricity, to reduce our environmental impact now and into the future.”
Leading the charge through wind and solar investments
Conner Henry, our company’s energy director, is driving TI’s renewable electricity initiatives. With more than a decade of experience at TI, he now faces the challenge of helping our company meet time-sensitive sustainability goals.
“We are operating in a dynamic and transformative period in the energy sector, with global electricity demand on the rise and a significant shift toward renewable electricity sources,” Conner said. “I am excited to be in this role because it presents a unique opportunity to directly contribute to TI’s sustainability goals and competitiveness.”
In 2023, renewable electricity made up about 20% of our company’s total energy mix, providing 619.9 GWh of clean energy – enough to power approximately 60,000 homes for a year. Conner noted that this number will increase in 2024 as we expand our investments in renewable electricity from solar and wind sources.
Our latest Corporate Citizenship Report details additional moves like relying on alternative gases and chemicals with a lower carbon footprint whenever possible, installing emissions abatement devices, and optimizing manufacturing, shipping and distribution systems to reduce our overall energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Making a global impact
One of Conner’s primary responsibilities is identifying new and long-term renewable electricity opportunities in partnership with other TI teams. He explains that there are a couple of different mechanisms for sourcing renewable electricity, including power purchase agreements for large-scale operations like wind and solar farms, and in some cases installing on-site solar – like the rooftop panels most people are familiar with.
Our renewable electricity procurement initiatives to date have largely focused on the off-site element — working with developers around Texas to source renewable electricity from large-scale solar and wind farms. “Each of those projects involves a long evaluation and contract-negotiation process — when we win one, it’s a big success,” Conner said.
Kathryn Ji, a procurement manager who works closely with Conner on these projects, says she’s proud to be part of these wins — and the company’s ongoing sustainability journey. “These goals aren’t something mandatory for the company; we’re taking them on to contribute positively to the world,” Kathryn said.
Those contributions extend beyond our U.S. operations. In India, for example, we invested in our company’s first rooftop solar installation at our Bangalore facility. Conner notes that renewable electricity also has particular significance to our facilities in the Philippines, Malaysia and other sites around the world.
“In addition to our U.S. operations, we have successfully sourced renewable electricity in Malaysia, the Philippines, and most recently in Germany, demonstrating our commitment to expanding our global renewable electricity portfolio,” Conner said.
Reducing energy consumption
In addition to our investments in renewable electricity, we’re also taking steps to reduce energy consumption on the demand side — like designing our buildings and fabrication sites for optimal efficiency. Rob Jackson, an energy engineer at our company, and TIers across multiple teams have played a pivotal role in these plans.
Currently, they are implementing a project to transition our company’s lighting systems to a more energy efficient solution — not just across manufacturing sites, but in office buildings as well. “Clear direction on our global environmental goals has allowed our sites to successfully execute a project of this scale,” Rob said, adding that the project has saved our company 66,000 megawatt-hours, equaling $5.3 million, each year. The initiative earned our company a Better Practice Award — a recognition of excellence in energy innovation — from the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year.
Creating a sustainable future
Since 2015, we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 23% and the energy used per integrated circuit by 28%. Our commitment to environmental sustainability is setting new industry standards, exemplified by our RFAB2 facility, which earned LEED Gold version 4 status – making it the first wafer fab in the U.S. to achieve this level of certification for sustainable design and operations.
The drive toward renewable electricity is not just a corporate initiative; it’s inspiring change across the broader energy sector. “Companies like TI demanding more renewable resources are pushing the energy industry to adapt and expand,” Kathryn said. “Our public commitments are sending a clear message that renewable electricity is not just the future—it’s our present.”
As our company continues to advance semiconductor technology, we’re simultaneously redefining what it means to be a responsible corporate citizen and a good neighbor. By investing in renewable electricity, we are not only powering our own operations, but also lighting the way for a more sustainable future for our communities around the world.
Source: TI Company blog
