Iron Mountain Inc., a global provider of storage and information management services, has signed a 15-year wind energy power purchase agreement (PPA) with an affiliate of NextEra Energy Resources LLC.
Iron Mountain will purchase 145 MW of energy from the Pretty Prairie Wind Farm, located in Reno County, Kan. With this agreement, coupled with other recent green power purchases, Iron Mountain expects to exceed 75% global renewable electricity usage in 2018 and move the company closer to its goal of 100% renewable power by 2050.
Iron Mountain worked with Schneider Electric Energy & Sustainability Services to identify and evaluate projects and arrange the deal.
“Renewable energy has become a key strategic component in how we manage electricity usage throughout our global real estate portfolio,” says Kevin Hagen, vice president of environmental social and governance strategy at Iron Mountain. “This agreement with NextEra Energy Resources is a critical next step towards achieving our goals for utilizing renewable energy for 100 percent of our global portfolio. What is especially exciting is that, with this agreement and the achievement of other milestones, 100 percent of our data center business now operates on renewable electricity.”
NextEra Energy Resources will build, own and operate the Pretty Prairie project, with Iron Mountain purchasing a portion of the electricity it generates. The wind farm is expected to create more than 250 jobs during construction, typically lasting six to nine months. Once operational by the end of 2019, Pretty Prairie Wind is expected to create 15-20 full-time jobs. Over its first 30 years in operation, the project will generate an estimated $50 million in payments to local landowners, as well as millions of dollars in additional tax revenue to the local community.
