New figures from BloombergNEF (BNEF) show that corporations bought a record amount of 13.4GW of clean energy through power purchase agreements (PPAs) in 2018, well over double the previous record of 6.1GW set in 2017.

The research firm’s latest Corporate Energy Market Outlook, reveals that 121 companies in 21 different countries signed up to buy renewable energy last year. More than 60% of those purchases were in the US, where PPAs to buy 8.5GW of power were signed, almost three times 2017’s figure. However, there are signs that the sector is ready to expand rapidly in other markets as well.

The amount of power bought by companies puts them alongside utilities as the biggest buyers of clean electricity. This is a major change in the structure of the market, said Jonas Rooze, head of corporate sustainability for BNEF: “Corporations have signed contracts to purchase over 32GW of clean power since 2008, an amount comparable to the generation capacity of the Netherlands, with 86% of this activity coming since 2015 and more than 40% in 2018 alone.”