- Apple, eBay, Samsung, and Sprint signed a joint agreement to buy power from a new wind farm owned and developed by Apex Clean Energy. Here is how the deal works.
Apple, eBay, Samsung, and Sprint have announced a joint agreement to buy power from a new wind farm owned and developed by Apex Clean Energy.
“We’re proud to be powering all of Apple’s operations around the world with 100 percent renewable energy and driving the private sector to support the clean energy transition,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “Businesses of all sizes and of varying energy needs can help bring new, renewable energy online. This collaborative agreement in Texas is a model we hope others will replicate.”
This transaction — which was spearheaded by Apple — totals approximately 75 megawatts of clean energy. This is enough to power the equivalent of 20,000 homes. And the full 500-MW White Mesa Wind project is expected to come online in 2021 in Crockett County, TX.
“At eBay, we prioritize operating in the most environmentally and socially sustainable way,” added Wendy Jones, SVP Global Operations, eBay. “This collaboration is not only an important step in advancing our commitment to reaching 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, but it also offers an inclusive approach to collaborate with other companies and lead the way toward a clean energy future.”
Shared energy purchases like this enable companies to pool their energy demands and support the addition of large-scale renewable energy projects to the grid.
“Samsung Austin Semiconductor understands the responsibility of businesses to work together to support environmental sustainability and increase the share of renewable energy in our local markets,” explained Gil Heyun Choi, president of Samsung Austin Semiconductor. “We see this agreement as a landmark effort for cutting-edge semiconductor technologies and a demonstration of green manufacturing brought to scale.”
Apple had brought together eBay, Samsung, and Sprint in the aggregation agreement, which enables all participants to access cost-effective low-carbon renewable energy from the new project. And 3Degrees facilitated the agreement.
“This project marks another step toward reaching our corporate goal of reducing Sprint’s carbon footprint,” commented Chas Peterson, Head of Procurement and Supply Chain at Sprint. “We are also greening our supply chain by partnering with some of our key suppliers on this innovative shared energy purchase.”
Apex said that enabling corporate aggregation for renewable power purchasing has been a key focus of the company and it is an essential way of engaging more corporate customers in clean energy procurement.
“The Apex platform is designed to develop utility-scale wind and solar projects that deliver optimized performance paired with the flexibility that aggregated offtakers need to make these deals feasible. White Mesa Wind is a prime example of the future of corporate clean energy transactions: aggregated power purchasing tailored to each offtaker’s needs,” stated Mark Goodwin, president and CEO of Apex Clean Energy.
Renewable Energy Buyer’s Alliance (REBA) members have been continuing to drive innovation in clean energy procurement.
“By bringing together the buying power of four leading brands, Apple, eBay, Sprint and Samsung, with the professional support of 3Degrees, energy buyers are proving that through the right partnerships these innovative renewable energy projects can come to fruition,” noted Miranda Ballentine, CEO of Renewable Energy Buyer’s Alliance.
