Credit: Petya BoyadzhievWhirlpool has announced plans for three wind turbines to power its manufacturing facility in Greenville, Ohio.
Beginning construction in early 2018, the turbines will be the same as those developed for Whirlpool’s manufacturing facilities in Findlay, Marion and Ottawa, Ohio, and will be developed in coordination with One Energy Enterprises, according to a release.
The three Greenville turbines will generate more than 12 million kWh annually and offset approximately 70% of the plant's electricity consumption — eliminating the equivalent of more than 9,000 annual tons of CO2.
"By investing in on-site wind energy, we're ensuring that Whirlpool Corp. is set up for success now and in the future, while also expanding the commitment to sustainability that is vital to our company," said Ron Voglewede, Whirlpool’s global sustainability director.
Similar to previous wind turbine projects, all three turbines will be built and financed by One Energy Enterprises as part of its Wind for Industry projects. The Greenville plant is the latest Ohio facility where Whirlpool is implementing wind energy to partially power its manufacturing operations.
The completion of the additional wind farms will potentially make Whirlpool one of the largest users of on-site wind energy of any Fortune 500 company in the United States, the release said.
The Greenville site manufactures stand mixers, stand mixer attachments and accessories, hand mixers, blenders, aerated beverage machines and cutlery blocks under the KitchenAid brand.
In addition to the wind turbines and as part of its continued commitment to the community surrounding the Greenville plant, Whirlpool will also create three $5,000 Megawatt Scholarships (one per turbine, for a total of $15,000 annually). They will be awarded annually for every year the turbines are in operation to local high school graduates pursuing a two-year or four-year STEM degree.
Wind power in the country took off in 2016, according to the new annual Wind Technologies Market Report prepared by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and published by the US Department of Energy this month. The US added 8,203 megawatts of wind power last year and saw $13 billion invested in new plants. Overall, wind power constituted 27% of all US generation capacity additions in 2016, the report says.
Several states came out on top for wind. Texas installed the most capacity last year — 2,611 megawatts — and reached a cumulative capacity of 20,320 megawatts. Oklahoma followed with 1,462 added megawatts, and Iowa came in third with 707 megawatts. Iowa also topped the list of states with the highest percentage of wind for in-state generation in 2016 at 36.6%. South Dakota came in second with 30.3% and Kansas was a close third at 29.6%.
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