Kimberly-Clark to use wind energy from Oklahoma, Texas

Kimberly-Clark Corp. has purchase nearly 1 million megawatt hours of electricity from two new wind power projects in Oklahoma and Texas.

The energy supplied through the agreement is about a third of the electricity needs of the manufacturing company’s North American operations and will allow the company to surpass its greenhouse gas reduction goal four years ahead of schedule, according to a company statement.

Kimberly-Clark will purchase 78 percent of the electricity generated by the Rock Falls Wind project in Kay and Grant counties in northern Oklahoma and 42 percent of the electricity generated by the Santa Rita Wind Energy Center being built in west Texas.

The energy from the two wind farms will allow the company to reduce its greenhouse emissions by up to 550,000 metric tons annually.

“These agreements mark Kimberly-Clark’s first use of utility-scale renewable energy and are a step-change in our energy and climate strategy to reduce climate change impacts, improve operating efficiency and benefit cost savings,” said Lisa Morden, global head of sustainability at Kimberly-Clark.

“Adding wind-generated electricity to the energy mix will enable the company to achieve more than a 25 percent reduction in GHG emissions in 2018, which is four years ahead of the original 2022 target to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels.”