By SAN FRANCISCO — Salesforce announced its first major renewable energy agreement. The company signed a 12-year wind energy agreement for 40 megawatts (MW) of a new West Virginia wind farm through a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA).
The electricity generated under the agreement is expected to be 125,000 megawatt hours annually, which is more than Salesforce’s data center electricity use in its full fiscal year 2015. The wind farm is expected to be operational by December 2016 and will deliver clean energy to the same regional electricity grid that currently powers the majority of Salesforce’s data center load.
This announcement comes on the heels of Salesforce’s recent commitments to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 and eventually power 100 percent of its global operations with renewable energy.
“Today’s announcement is our biggest step yet toward achieving our commitment to be powered 100 percent by renewable energy,” said Mark Hawkins, CFO, Salesforce. “This new wind farm will bring clean energy to the same regional electricity grid that serves the majority of our data center load and support a global transition to a low-carbon economy.”
“Salesforce is one of the leaders of the corporate renewable energy movement and we are proud to see the company move into action with this wind energy agreement,” said Herve Touati, a managing director at nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute and head of the Business Renewables Center (BRC). “2015 has proven a record-setting year, with more than 3 gigawatts of wind and solar transactions signed by corporate buyers, compared to 1.2 gigawatts in 2014. Despite this incredible success, less than 20 corporations have been active in this space since its inception. This is just a start, and Salesforce should be recognized as one of the pioneers who made it happen.”
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