(Credit: Pixabay)Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has signed an eight-year virtual power purchasing agreement with Enel North America to deliver a 90-megawatt (MW) portion of the Seven Cowboy wind project in western Oklahoma, which is expected to be operational by the second half of 2023. Thermo Fisher will purchase approximately 400,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable electricity, equal to half of the company’s current US electricity needs.
As part of the company’s emissions-reduction strategy, Thermo Fisher plans to eventually transition most locations globally to renewable energy. Today, more than 60 sites worldwide are fully powered by renewable electricity, including seven facilities that generate 3.5 MW of solar power and 3 MW of wind energy. Another 15 MW of solar power projects are in the planning stage.
“By sourcing electricity from new wind and solar facilities we can help our customers meet their Scope 3 greenhouse gas reduction targets," said Konrad Bauer, senior vice president, global business services, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "This project will more than double our use of renewable energy and, combined with our $20 million investment in green infrastructure earlier this year, supports our commitment to a net-zero value chain by 2050.”
Recently, North American solar and wind power purchase agreement prices have continued to rise as demand outpaces supply in addition to the potential impacts of a looming government investigation and inflation concerns, according to LevelTen Energy.
Power purchase agreement prices have been increasing for more than two years, according to the LevelTen report, and rose 5.3% in the second quarter, with solar prices up 8% and wind up 2.5%. Compared with the same time in 2021, prices are nearly 30% higher and have reached nearly $42 per megawatt-hour.
Enel recently achieved the highest position in the 2022 Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index within the “Electric Utilities & Independent Power Producers (IPPs)” industry group.
