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The Home Depot is making major moves toward sustainability through a recent investment in a Texas wind farm. While the energy purchased from the wind farm is enough to power 100 Home Depot stores for a year, it also gives back to the local community, according to the company.
As the first step “in a wind-powered renewable energy project,” the company partnered with EDP Renewables North America, the company that owns and operates the Los Mirasoles Wind Farm. It is located northeast of McAllen, Texas. In addition, EDP Renewables operates globally and has 41 wind farms across North America.
To help decrease its carbon emissions, Home Depot signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), which totals 50 megawatts (MW) annually. The wind farm utilizes Vestas V100 2.0 MW wind turbines and produces enough power to provide more than 70,000 average U.S. homes with clean electricity each year, the press release explains.
By the end of 2020, Home Depot’s goal is to procure 135 MW of various renewable energy sources, including wind and solar. Aside from the wind farm, the big-box retailer “procures energy from solar farms in Delaware and Massachusetts with a combined annual output of 14.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh). More than 150 stores and distribution centers utilize on-site fuel cells that produce roughly 85 percent of the electricity each store needs to operate,” the press release adds.
“The Home Depot is committed to sustainability, and this wind development is just one example of that commitment,” says Craig D’Arcy, director of energy management for Home Depot in a video the company shared on the project. “This is truly taking it upstream for us and how we operate our stores and really taking a big step in terms of the impact we have.”
