Novartis, a global healthcare company based out of Switzerland, has signed up to purchase 100 MW of power from Invenergy’s Santa Rita East wind farm, located approximately 70 miles west of San Angelo, Texas.
The virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) will support Novartis’ environmental sustainability strategy and goals, says Invenergy. Over the life of the 12-year agreement, the project is expected to reduce Novartis’ greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 220,000 metric tons per year. The PPA with Invenergy also represents more than 70% of the pharmaceutical company’s carbon footprint from purchased electricity in the U.S. market.
The project will deliver new wind power capacity to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid. Recently, global baking company Grupo Bimbo also signed a virtual PPA for the same wind farm.
“As more and more companies turn to renewables to support sustainability goals and control energy costs, Invenergy has been leading the way with more than 1,540 contracted megawatts for corporate customers over the last three years,” says Jim Shield, Invenergy’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “We’re excited to partner with Novartis and applaud their commitment to environmentally responsible and economical operations.”
“At Novartis, we take our responsibility toward environmental sustainability very seriously. It is important to our organization, associates, patients, investors and society overall,” says Karen Coyne, global head of environment for Novartis Business Services. “This power purchase agreement with Invenergy is in line with our sustainability strategy and is expected to help us reduce our carbon footprint, constrain costs and increase adoption of renewable energy.”
Since 2015, Invenergy has partnered with 12 corporate customers to develop over 1,540 MW of new renewable energy capacity. So far in 2018, Invenergy has signed more than 745 MW of renewable energy PPAs.
The Santa Rita East wind farm is expected to be online in 2019. It will create up to 300 jobs during construction and 12-15 permanent jobs once operational.
