Groundbreaking partnership with NRG Energy will provide increased
renewable wind energy to power Dow Operations
Today, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) advances its vision to
accelerate the development of cost-effective clean energy alternatives
and reduce carbon emissions by increasing its clean energy target from
400 MW to 750 MW by 2025. This increase aligns with Dow’s 2025
Sustainability Goals and was achieved within the first year of the
launch of the goals.
To accelerate this plan, Dow has partnered with NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:
NRG) and NRG Yield, Inc. (NYSE: NYLD, NYLD.A) on a large scale
collaboration for renewable energy. The partnership will provide
sustainable, clean energy through a ten-year wind power purchase
agreement from the 150 MW Goat Mountain I and II wind farms, which will
power Dow’s Freeport, Texas facilities. The collaboration with NRG
Energy and the additional 150 MW of renewable energy contributed to a
total of approximately 500 MW in renewable energy for Dow, resulting in
the increased clean energy target.
Launched in 2015, the original 2025
Sustainability Goals include a key performance indicator to use 400
MW of clean power. Meeting this target in just one year, Dow is
resetting its goal to 750 MW, further illustrating the company’s
continued forward-thinking, leadership position in clean energy.
“Dow’s 2025 Sustainability Goals define the path forward for our
Company, and today we are pleased to increase our renewable energy
targets from 400 MW up to 750 MW by 2025,” said Dr. Neil Hawkins, Dow’s
corporate vice president and chief sustainability officer.“Dow is proud
to be the first company in the United States to power manufacturing
sites with renewable energy at this kind of scale and that we’ve become
one of the largest corporate purchasers of wind energy in America. We
appreciate this new collaboration with NRG at our Freeport site.”
Historically, Dow has utilized grid power, fossil fuels, natural gas,
coal and oil to power its plants. However, with the change in market
prices and policies, the Company can now cost- effectively utilize
renewable energy to help operate the plants and reduce its carbon
footprint.
“This is a significant game changer representing the increase of
renewable energy to power Dow plants,” said Jack Broodo, Dow’s business
president of feedstocks and energy. “Through cost-advantaged power, Dow
is manufacturing materials through renewable energy in one of the
largest scale industrial partnerships in the world. In fact, at the 400
MW level, Dow is now in the top five industrial users of renewable power
in the U.S.”
Providing the power are NRG’s 11,000 acre Goat Mountain I and II wind
farms located in Coke and Sterling counties, north of San Angelo, Texas.
These farms are part of the NRG renewable portfolio with 4,313 MW of
wind and solar generation owned either entirely or in part by NRG or NRG
Yield.
“We’re proud to partner with Dow and provide renewable energy solutions
to a company that’s already demonstrating an exceptional commitment to
sustainability,” said Craig Cornelius, senior vice president and head of
renewables at NRG. “Dow represents one of many companies that are
driving an evolution in America’s energy mix as they seek cleaner
sources of power that also provide more certainty over future energy
costs.”
Dow currently supplies its Freeport, Texas, facilities with 350MW of
wind power annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity
needed to power nearly 50,000 homes.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to
passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company
is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer,
chemical and biological science to help address many of the world's most
challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy
generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity.
Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty
chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses
delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to
customers in approximately 180 countries and in high-growth sectors such
as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2015, Dow
had annual sales of nearly $49 billion and employed approximately 49,500
people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 product families are
manufactured at 179 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References
to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its
consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More
information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
About NRG
NRG is the leading integrated power company in the U.S., built on the
strength of the nation’s largest and most diverse competitive electric
generation portfolio and leading retail electricity platform. A Fortune
200 company, NRG creates value through best in class operations,
reliable and efficient electric generation, and a retail platform
serving residential and commercial businesses. Working with electricity
customers, large and small, we continually innovate, embrace and
implement sustainable solutions for producing and managing energy. We
aim to be pioneers in developing smarter energy choices and delivering
exceptional service as our retail electricity providers serve almost 3
million residential and commercial customers throughout the country.
More information is available at www.nrg.com.
Connect with NRG Energy on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @nrgenergy.
About NRG Yield
NRG Yield owns a diversified portfolio of contracted renewable and
conventional generation and thermal infrastructure assets in the U.S.,
including fossil fuel, solar and wind power generation facilities that
provide the capacity to support more than two million American homes and
businesses. Our thermal infrastructure assets provide steam, hot water
and/or chilled water, and in some instances electricity, to commercial
businesses, universities, hospitals and governmental units in multiple
locations. NRG Yield’s Class C and Class A common stock are traded on
the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols NYLD and NYLD.A,
respectively. Visit nrgyield.com
for more information.
®TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an
affiliated company of Dow
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