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Enel Green Power North America, Inc. and HP Hood LLC announced an agreement for Hood to purchase 90 GWh of wind energy each year, making it one of the only dairy companies in the U.S. to execute such a contract. Through the 12-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA), Hood will purchase the electricity delivered to the grid by a 25 MW portion of Enel Green Power’s Azure Sky Wind project in Texas. The agreement is Hood’s first renewable energy VPPA and comes as the company celebrates its 175th year with continued innovation, growth, and a renewed commitment to sustainability.
The energy purchased is equivalent to 33 percent of the electricity used across all 13 of Hood’s owned manufacturing facilities in 2020, enough electricity to power the equivalent of 10,774 US homes each year.
The partnership, which is the first virtual power purchase agreement for Hood, will support the leading dairy company’s commitment to effect positive environmental change throughout its operations and energy supply.
Over the life of the VPPA, the Azure Sky Wind project will generate approximately 90 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity annually, addressing 33 percent of the electricity used across all 13 of Hood’s owned manufacturing facilities in 2020. Hood was advised in their selection and negotiation process by Schneider Electric.
Located west of the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Throckmorton County, TX, the Azure Sky Wind and Storage project includes a 350 MW wind project paired with approximately 137 MW of battery storage and is expected to be operational in the first-half of 2022. In addition to Hood, Enel Green Power will also sell the electricity produced by a portion of the Azure Sky Wind project to Kellogg Company, MilliporeSigma, Akamai Technologies, Synopsys and Uber.
