Energy Efficiency, Finance, Industrial, Solar, Sourcing Renewables - November 29, 2016
Iron Mountain activates New Jersey solar project
Storage and information management company that is expected to generate 2.6 million kWh of electricity per year.
The array, which lives adjacent to a large Iron Mountain records management facility, will immediately allow the company to offset 60% of the site's energy consumption, with that percentage expected to increase as other energy efficiency projects come online for the 857,194 square-foot campus, according to a news release.
The solar installation will supply Iron Mountain through a 20-year, fixed price power purchase agreement with site developer Tech Advisory Group.
Iron Mountain said the power from the installation effectively doubles the company's installed solar production from 2 MW to nearly 4 MW. Combined with prior wind farm power purchases in Pennsylvania and Texas, the project is helping the company utilize renewable energy resources for two-thirds of its total North American electricity load by 2018.
"Energy usage across our real estate portfolio comprises half of our global greenhouse gas emissions footprint," Ty Ondatje, senior vice president of corporate responsibility and chief diversity officer for Iron Mountain, said in a statement. "As such, renewable and sustainable energy strategies like solar represent a major opportunity for us to reduce our impact on the environment while enabling us to innovate and operate our business more efficiently."
Ondatje said this PPA and others it has executed across the continent have helped Iron Mountain stabilize its long-term costs and enable the company to use energy at lower than grid prices. For these reasons, we are committed to renewable energy strategies to benefit our business and position Iron Mountain and our customers to meet the growing expectations for sustainable business practices.”
"For these reasons, we are committed to renewable energy strategies to benefit our business and position Iron Mountain and our customers to meet the growing expectations for sustainable business practices," he said.
Energy use and sourcing has been a key component of Iron Mountain's sustainability goals. The company in August reported a year-over-year reduction in facility energy use of 12% in 2015, beating its goal of 3%, while its use of renewable energy increased sixfold to 2.4 million kWh through a combination of onsite solar installation and direct purchase of green power.
The New Jersey solar array was installed by Pro-Tech Energy Solutions of Moorestown, N.J., and sits on neighboring property belonging to The Clayton Companies, one of the largest privately held mining companies in New Jersey.
Read These Related Articles:
Stay Up-To-Date
