US food company General Mills has signed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) for 200MW of electricity from the Maverick Creek wind project inTexas.
Maverick Creek, is owned by Roaring Fork Wind, a joint venture between RES and Steelhead Americas.
The wind farm, in Concho County, will produce renewable energy credits for General Mills that, together with the company’s previous wind power agreement, are calculated to equal 100% of the electricity used each year at its US facilities.
During the peak of construction, Maverick Creek will create approximately 175 jobs in the clean energy workforce.
General Mills chief supply chain officer and global business solutions officer John Church said: “General Mills began its milling operations more than 150 years ago with water power from the banks of the Mississippi River.
“By learning from history, and tying back to our clean power roots, the equivalent of our domestic facilities’ annual electricity needs will be covered by clean wind power, helping to reach our climate commitment of decreasing our carbon footprint by 28% by 2025.”
Maverick Creek is 10 miles from Cactus Flats, the wind project in General Mills’ first wind energy purchase agreement.
The wind farm is situated in a particularly favourable wind area in central Texas.
Texas is the leading state in the US for wind energy production with over 24.9GW of installed capacity.
General Mills’ commitment to purchase green power from Roaring Fork will help to finance the construction of Maverick Creek.
The project’s renewable energy credits can be applied toward General Mills’ greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and will enable the company to reduce emissions across its global value chain by 2050.
RES Americas chief executive Graham Reid said: “RES, in partnership with Steelhead Americas, is delighted to support General Mills’ effort to match 100% of the electricity used at company-owned domestic facilities.”