Next Big Thing: Wind power for retail

On a wind farm near McAllen, Texas, with windmills that stand taller from tip to base than the Statue of Liberty, Home Depot is harvesting enough electricity to power 100 Home Depot stores.

The juice is flowing because of the Atlanta-based retailer’s deal with EDP Renewables North America, a deal that marks Home Depot’s first major investment in a wind-powered renewable energy project. The company says that in addition to supplying power to 100 stores, the deal provides $150,000 in local community benefits.

[For more on the Home Depot's wind-harvesting project, click here.]

The Los Mirasoles Wind Farm, operated by EDP, is in Hidalgo and Starr Counties. Through a 20-year power purchase agreement, Home Depot’s annual purchase of 50 megawatts is a fifth of the wind farm’s 250 MW capacity.

The Home Depot signed on with EDP in 2016. Under the retailer’s renewable energy initiative, its goal is to procure 135 megawatts of various renewable energy sources, including wind, by the end of 2020.

In Delaware and Massachusetts, Home Depot collects energy from solar farms to the tune of 14.5 million kilowatt hours per year. Also, more than 150 stores and distribution centers use on-site fuel cells that produce about 85% of the electricity needed to power each store.