United Wind and Smithfield Foods announce 3MW WindLease agreement
United Wind, the nation's leading distributed wind energy developer, announced today it has signed an agreement with Smithfield Foods Inc., a global food company and the world's largest hog producer and pork processor, to power dozens of Smithfield hog farms in Colorado with on-site wind energy. The partnership will provide Smithfield with long-term, low-cost renewable energy for its agricultural operations and contribute to its industry-leading goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2025 – the first commitment of its kind from a protein company.
"At Smithfield, we are committed to seeking out innovative ways to reduce our environmental impact, all while creating value for our company and stakeholders," said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. "This partnership with United Wind is part of our efforts to produce the food needed to feed a growing world population, while minimizing our use of natural resources."
"We're excited to bring competitive distributed wind energy options to food and agricultural companies like Smithfield in wind-rich environments throughout rural areas of the country," said Russell Tencer, CEO of United Wind. "The economics and land-use attributes of distributed wind just make more sense in the areas we serve."
United Wind's WindLease provides farms and other rural businesses with a distributed wind system, sized to meet each customer's on-site load, and priced at a fixed monthly rate for the twenty-year lease term. United Wind handles all aspects of the project, from permitting and construction to monitoring and maintenance, with no upfront or ongoing project related costs.
Since its founding in 2013, United Wind has developed, financed, and commissioned more than 100 distributed wind projects ranging from 10kW – 100kW in rated capacity throughout Western New York and the Midwestern U.S.
Source: Smithfield Foods Inc.
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