GM’s Texas wind power deal powers up Arlington, Austin

GM signed a power purchase agreement with Renewable Energy Systems to source 50 megawatts of wind energy to power 16 sites with 100 percent renewable energy.

General Motors Co. has made its largest renewable energy purchase to date, buying enough wind energy to equal the electricity needs of 16 of its U.S. sites and warehouses, including GM’s assembly plant and stamping complex in Arlington and the Fort Worth headquarters of General Motors Financial Co. Inc.

The auto giant announced the purchase Nov. 16 at a Business Renewables Center meeting at GM’s global headquarters in Detroit.

GM will source wind power through an agreement with Renewable Energy Systems, a global renewable energy and energy storage development and construction company. The company will purchase 50 megawatts of power produced at Cactus Flats, a 150-megawatt wind farm being developed by RES in Concho County, Texas.

When the contract begins in the first half of 2018, 6 percent of GM’s global energy use will be powered by renewable energy. More than 193,000 megawatt hours of electricity from wind will be sourced annually to power the Austin IT Innovation Center, GM Financial’s office in Fort Worth and 13 parts warehouses east of the Mississippi River.

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The Arlington assembly plant, which is already 50 percent powered by renewable energy, will have all of its electricity needs met with green power.

“Investing in Texas wind energy is an important step on a journey that will see clean, renewable sources account for 100 percent of GM’s global energy footprint by 2050,” said Rob Threlkeld, GM global manager of Renewable Energy.

GM worked with Altenex, an Edison Energy Co. and an independent renewable energy adviser, to identify renewable energy projects in the Texas market and execute the deal.

“RES is proud to support General Motors in reaching its 100 percent renewable energy goal,” said Glen Davis, CEO of RES in the Americas. “RES brings decades of experience to GM and other companies to reduce their carbon footprint and secure low-cost renewable energy for the future.”