Commercial, Industrial, Wind  -  December 22, 2020

New wind will give energy to Walmart, Smithfield Foods, Starbucks

A 303 MW wind farm that will provide clean energy to Walmart, Smithfield Foods and Starbucks is now operational in southern Oklahoma.

The Diamond Spring wind project, owned by ALLETE Clean Energy, is contracted to provide power to the three corporate offtakers through separate agreements with 12-15 year terms. This is ALLETE’s largest wind project and increases the company’s wind portfolio capacity to more than 1,000 MW.

“Smithfield Foods has an ambitious carbon reduction program aimed at making a real, positive impact on the climate and generating value for multiple stakeholders,” Kraig Westerbeek, senior director of Smithfield Renewables for Smithfield Foods, said in a statement. “With the completion of the Diamond Spring project, the wind energy generated from this site will account for what is needed to power more than 15 percent of our total U.S. operations, marking a significant step forward in achieving our goals.”

Smithfield Foods is currently pursuing a 25% emissions cut across its supply chain between 2016 and 2025 and earlier this year announced its intention to be carbon negative in its operations in the United States by 2030.

The wind project is able to offer low-cost energy to customers through the purchase of wind turbines that qualify for the safe harbor provision of federal production tax credits. Following the completion of the Diamond Spring project, ALLETE will next focus on the construction of a different 303 MW wind facility that will provide 200 MW to McDonald’s Corp. by the end of 2021.

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