How Albany International is saving money with clean power

Challenge

From legacy manufacturing to a clean energy leader

Albany International is a 130 year-old global materials science and manufacturing company operating in two main divisions: It manufactures aerospace and defense carbon fiber composites, as well as industrial textiles.

In both segments, Albany International operates large, energy-intensive facilities. Increasingly, it faces pressure from customers—especially in Europe—to reduce operational emissions. So in 2023, the company set its first formal sustainability goals, signaling a shift from legacy efficiency to strategic decarbonization. Its first emissions target is a 50% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and its second is to produce zero waste to landfill by 2030 in the Americas and Europe.

But the company didn’t start with idealism. It started with business logic.

Complexity, fragmentation, and the risk of doing nothing

Due to its operating model, Albany International has a high level of operational complexity: it has over thirty global sites with varying electricity prices, roof conditions, and regulatory environments. At the beginning of its sustainability journey, it also faced distributed interest and lacked a central framework. While grassroots proposals for solar had been initiated by site teams in different countries (often in local languages, using local engineering studies), there was no way to compare apples-to-apples or prioritize action.

The result: not just climate risk, but financial exposure. Customers were beginning to tie procurement decisions to supplier emissions, and upcoming regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), added pressure to demonstrate real decarbonization progress.

Fast action under federal pressure

Then came the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). Signed into law in July 2025, the sweeping US statute restructured federal tax and spending policy, including a sunset on key clean energy subsidies.

Albany International, like many companies, faced a choice: move quickly to capture remaining incentives, or miss out. In a matter of months, the financial calculus for clean power would shift, adding urgency to what was already a complex strategic challenge.

The organization’s leadership had long pushed for high-ROI clean power interventions at key sites, but with the OBBB now law, the clock was ticking. Working with Watershed, Albany International rapidly identified high-potential facilities and entered an expedited RFP process to capture remaining incentives before they disappeared.

Solution

Partnering with Watershed to build a business-first clean power strategy

In early 2025, Albany International joined a Watershed-led cohort of companies investing in clean power through a structured virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA).

Albany International acted quickly, working with Watershed to aggregate demand across customers to reduce costs, design shorter-term, lower-risk contracts, and partner with an investment bank to absorb market risk and streamline the deal. The result: it locked in fixed clean power pricing for five years, covering nearly half of its scope 2 emissions with credible, high-impact reductions in dirtier grids.

This level of speed and scale was possible because Albany International didn’t go it alone. By rallying internal champions and partnering with experts like Watershed, they accelerated progress that might have otherwise taken years.

“I’m not an expert in energy markets or VPPA structuring—and I don’t need to be. Partnering with Watershed has given us direct access to that expertise.”

Anna Yates,
Head of Sustainability

Scaling onsite solar through a centralized roadmap

While the VPPA helped Albany International tackle scope 2 emissions at scale, it also wanted to cut costs and emissions at the site level. And with sustainability interest bubbling up across its thirty facilities, the company needed a way to turn local enthusiasm into global strategy.

So Albany International turned to Watershed to centralize its site-level data and feasibility reports and build a consistent framework for prioritizing solar investments. Using Lumen, a Watershed partner, Albany International was able to assess ROI potential across facilities, and today has launched multiple solar RFPs and continues deeper site-level analysis with Watershed’s support.

“Watershed’s expertise has been invaluable for onsite solar,” says Anna Yates, Head of Sustainability at Albany International. “They’ve helped us model the financials and pinpoint the strongest business cases, so I can bring clear, actionable recommendations to our finance and leadership teams.”

Results

From quick wins to long-term advantage: Clean power at scale

Through its Watershed-powered VPPA, Albany International has covered nearly 50% of its scope 2 emissions target and locked in fixed clean energy pricing for five years. It also achieved clear project attribution, showing exactly where its investments have made an impact.

Beyond quick wins, Albany International has taken its strategy to the next level, with its onsite solar roadmap becoming part of its long-term decision-making. More and more, procurement and product innovation are informed by emissions reduction goals, proving that the sustainability team has expanded its influence across the business.

“There’s very little you can do alone in sustainability—even with a great team. It takes an ecosystem approach because this work doesn’t sit in a silo anymore. It’s about business value, innovation, and supporting customers, both internal and external.”

Anna Yates,
Head of Sustainability

By engaging the organization and showing the business case behind every investment, Yates built significant internal momentum for the company’s climate initiatives. And by moving before OBBB changes took effect, Albany International has the opportunity to capture clean power savings that are now out of reach for many competitors.

For Albany International, it’s become clear that clean power isn’t optional—it’s a strategic advantage. “The business case is the climate case,” Yates says.