Commercial, Sourcing Renewables, Wind  -  January 14, 2016

Salesforce inks 2 wind power deals in move toward 100% renewable energy

Salesforce announced in December 2015 that it inked a long-term deal to obtain electricity from a West Virginia wind farm, which the company views as a major step toward its goal of powering operations exclusively with renewable energy.

The company signed a 12-year wind energy agreement for 40 MW of power through a virtual power purchase agreement, Salesforce said in a news release.The electricity generated under the agreement is expected to be 125,000 MWh annually.

The wind farm will deliver clean energy to the same regional electricity grid that currently powers the majority of Salesforce's data center load, according to the release. Salesforce announced a second renewable energy deal Jan. 14, this time with a wind farm in Texas, with a 12-year virtual PPA for 24 MW of electricity.

Together, the two agreements are expected to generate more electricity than the company consumed globally in its full fiscal year 2015. Both the Texas and the West Virginia wind farms are scheduled to be operational in December 2016.

"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," Hervé Touati, a managing director at nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute and head of the Business Renewables Center said of the first deal. 

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