Nearly 8% of The Home Depot’s total electricity usage is going to be based on renewable energy from a project right here in North Texas.
The Atlanta-based home improvement giant announced that it has purchased 100 MW of solar energy from National Grid Renewables’ Noble solar and storage project in Denton County. This will generate the approximate equivalent of the company’s 8% total usage figure.
Solar farm in Denton County is NGR’s largest to date
The solar farm is NGR’s largest solar energy project to date, and its first utility-scale energy storage project, The Home Depot says.
Noble is a 275 megawatt solar and 125 megawatt hour energy storage project within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). During each year of operation, it’s projected to avoid 450,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
100% renewable energy equivalent goal
“Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on earth,” Ron Jarvis, chief sustainability officer for The Home Depot, said in a statement. “With this purchase, we’re getting a step closer to our goal to produce or procure 100% renewable electricity equivalent to the needs of our facilities. We anticipate about three-quarters of our alternative and renewable energy capacity will come from solar energy by the end of 2023.”
The home improvement brand has made a pledge to produce or buy 100% renewable electricity equal to the electricity needs of all Home Depot facilities by 2030. That pledge expands its earlier promise to produce or buy 335 megawatts of renewable or alternative energy by 2025.
Electricity usage cut by 50% since 2010
The Home Depot says that since 2010, it’s reduced electricity usage in its U.S. stores by 50%. It has rooftop solar farms on more than 80 stores, along with electricity-generating fuel cells in more than 200 stores, the company said.
It’s not relying on the Denton County project alone. The company currently purchases solar power from a 75 MW facility and is under contract for another 50 MW of solar capacity, it said. The Home Depot also buys energy from a 50 MW wind facility. The company says it expects the combined annual renewable energy generation from these agreements to be enough to power more than 500 of its stores.
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