General Motors (GM) recently announced that it will purchase 200 megawatts of wind energy from wind farms to power its Indiana and Ohio manufacturing facilities.
GM will be the sole user of the Northwest Ohio Wind farm, a 100-megawatt project owned by Starwood Energy Group. Swift Current Energy will provide 100 megawatts from its HillTopper Wind Project in Logan County, Illinois.
The new wind deals are enough to meet the electricity needs of the Fort Wayne Assembly, Marion Metal Center and Bedford Casting plants in Indiana, as well as the Lordstown Assembly, Defiance Casting Operations, Parma Metal Center and Toledo Transmission plants in Ohio. Once the turbines come online by the end of 2018, renewable energy will power 20 percent of GM's global electricity use.
"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," said Rob Threlkeld, GM's global manager of renewable energy. "With a pragmatic strategy, companies can turn ambitious renewable energy goals into action and scale quickly."
GM has used renewable energy for decades, saving nearly $5 million annually as a result. The company made its first wind purchase in 2014 for several of its Mexico operations, followed by deals supporting Texas wind farms for 30 and 50 megawatts of energy. GM also uses solar power at 26 facilities and generates electricity from landfill gas at two assembly plants.
For more information, visit www.gm.com.