General Mills Signs Virtual PPA for 200 Megawatts of Wind Power

General Mills recently announced it signed a virtual 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Roaring Fork Wind, LLC, a joint venture partnership between RES (Renewable Energy Systems) and Steelhead Americas, for 200 megawatts (MW) of its Maverick Creek wind project.

The wind project, located in central Texas, will produce renewable energy credits for General Mills that, together with the company’s previous wind power agreement, are calculated to equal 100% of the electricity used annually at the company’s owned domestic facilities.

General Mills’ commitment to purchase green power from Roaring Fork will help to finance the construction of the Maverick Creek wind project. The project’s renewable energy credits can be applied toward General Mills’ greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, and will enable the company to reduce its Scope 2 emissions as part of its target of sustainable emission levels across its global value chain by 2050.

Texas has become a hotbed for solar and wind energy. In February, Duke Energy Renewables announced it signed a PPA with 7X Energy, a solar development company. The agreement consisted of the purchase of 7X Energy’s 100 megawatt Lapetus Solar Energy Project in Andrews County, Texas.

Lapetus will be located on an approximately 800-acre site, and construction is expected to begin before the end of March. The project will be the first large-scale solar project in Andrews County. During peak construction, the solar facility will bring approximately 150 jobs to the county and generate more than $20 million in local property tax revenue. Lapetus is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.