GM’s Arlington, TX Plant to Be More than Half Wind Powered

General Motors’ Arlington, TX plant will be more than half powered by wind in the near future, according to Clean Technica. The company has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with EDP Renewables North America for 30 MW of wind power from the 250 MW Hidalgo Wind Farm in Edinburg. As many as 125,000 trucks can be built annually with the power, the story said.

The wind power will come on line during the fourth quarter of 2016. The 14-year contract will save the plant about $2.8 million and cut emissions by 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the story says. The carbon dioxide saved will be the equivalent of what would be released by 112 million gallons of gasoline.

IKEA said last week that it is adding at least one wind farm in its efforts to fulfill a pledge to be energy neutral by 2020. The company now produces 53 percent of the energy it consumers. When the farms it owns are fully online, the portion it self-generates from renewables will reach 76 percent, according to a Reuters report.