France’s national railway company, SNCF, has renewed its commitment to the energy transition.

When the group signed its largest green corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) last year – to buy solar electricity from 143 MW of solar capacity supplied by compatriot renewables developer Voltalia for 25 years – the rail company said it was planning to sign “six to seven times” the volume of that deal “over the next two or three years.”

SNCF has gone a step nearer that 858-1,001 MW commitment by signing a 15 to 20-year, 40 MW corporate PPA with another French renewables company – RES.

The latest deal is expected to provide around 2% of the electricity consumed by the rail group’s SNCF Voyageurs passenger train subsidiary as the parent aims to procure 40-50% of the energy needed to power its passenger trains from renewable sources by 2025.