(Photo Credit: Michael Gaida)[/caption]
Ball Corporation recently signed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Duke Energy for 161 megawatts from the energy provider’s largest wind power project. Construction on the 350-MW Frontier Windpower II project is set to begin later this summer in Kay County, Oklahoma.
The project is an expansion of the wind farm Frontier Windpower I, which went into operation in 2016, Duke Energy explained. When the new facility is completed, both of the farms are expected to generate 550 MW of wind energy combined.
Duke Energy said that Amshore US Wind provided development support for the new wind farm and that Wanzek Construction is the contractor. Nordex Group will be supplying 74 wind turbines for Frontier Windpower II, each one 4.8 megawatts, according to the renewable energy provider. The facility should become fully operational by December 2020.
Schneider Electric Energy and Sustainability Services advised Ball Corporation on the VPPA for Frontier Windpower II, assisting with project selection and negotiations, the companies said.
“Utilizing renewable energy is an important lever to further enhance the sustainability credentials of our packaging and demonstrates our commitment to have the aluminum can recognized as the most sustainable package,” said John A. Hayes, Ball Corporation’s chairman, president, and CEO.
In April the company announced it had signed two VPPAs — one for wind and one for solar — totaling 388 megawatts but didn’t provide much detail. Ball Corporation said at the time that these two deals address all of the North American electricity load that the company uses for its corporate, packaging, and aerospace operations by the end of 2021.
