Dive Brief:
-
General Motors says it will buy 200 MW of energy from wind farms in Ohio and Illinois.
-
When the turbines come online at the end of 2018, they will provide all the power for GM factories in Ohio and Indiana.
- The power purchase agreements are for the output of Starwood Energy Group’s 100 MW Northwest Ohio Wind farm and Swift Current Energy’s 100 MW HillTopper wind project in Logan County, Illinois.
Dive Insight:
In 2015, corporations overtook utilities as the largest purchasers of wind power. When the trend began, most of the corporate PPAs were with younger companies such as Google or Microsoft; but older, more traditional companies have since joined the trend.
GM notes that it has used renewable energy for decades. In 2015, the auto maker signed a PPA with Enel Green Power for all of the output from a 104 MW wind farm in Palo Alto, Mexico. GM has set a target of meeting all its electricity needs for its global operations with renewable energy by 2050.
The most recent PPAs will power GM factories in Ft. Wayne and its Marion Metal Center and Bedford Casting plants in Indiana, and at its Lordstown assembly facility, Defiance casting operations, Parma Metal Center and Toledo Transmission plants in Ohio.
As a result of the PPAs, the Chevrolet Cruze and Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty pickup trucks will be manufactured using 100% renewable energy.
“We’re helping provide solutions to green the grid through these new renewable energy deals and sharing best practices with other companies so they too can reduce risk and energy costs,” Rob Threlkeld, GM global manager of renewable energy, said in a statement.
