Sportswear Giant Signs Second Wind Power Deal

Sportswear giant Nike has signed its second major wind power agreement with Avangrid Renewables. The deal is for 86 megawatts of wind power from the Karankawa Wind Farm in Bee and San Patricio counties in Texas.

Avangrid Renewables is a subsidiary of energy and utility business Avangrid and part of the Iberdrola Group, CNBC reported.

"This agreement enables us to source 100% of renewable energy across our owned or operated facilities in North America," Hannah Jones, Nike's chief sustainability officer and VP of its Innovation Accelerator, said in a statement on Thursday.

"Investing in renewable energy is good for athletes, the planet and for business."

Under Nike's other agreement with Avangrid Renewables, three wind farms deliver renewable energy to the company's global headquarters in Oregon as well as almost all of its Oregon-based sites. "Working with partners like Nike who have relentless focus on driving the development and availability of renewable energy is exciting and inspiring," Barrett Stambler, Avangrid Renewables vice president for origination, said.

Nike is a member of RE100, a global initiative made up of some of the world's biggest businesses committed to renewable electricity. The organization has set itself the target of sourcing 100% of its electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2025.

The company’s purchase commitment will generate over 5,000 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity, the equivalent of powering more than 400,000 average American households with carbon free energy–or the equivalent of taking nearly 800,000 vehicles off the road for one year. Nike already sources renewable energy through on-site generation at some of its largest facilities, including the company’s European Logistics Campus in Belgium and China Logistics Center in Taicang.

source: Financial Tribune