Iron Mountain has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with an affiliate of NextEra Energy Resources to buy 145MW of wind power.
Image: Iron Mountain to buy 145MW power from Pretty Prairie wind farm. Photo courtesy of Falk Schaaf/Freeimages.com.
Under a 15-year PPA, the storage and information management services provider will purchase new wind energy from the Pretty Prairie Wind Farm, located in Reno County, Kansas.
To identify and evaluate projects and arrange the deal, Iron Mountain has partnered with Schneider Electric Energy & Sustainability Services.
Iron Mountain environmental social and governance strategy vice president Kevin Hagen said: “Renewable energy has become a key strategic component in how we manage electricity usage throughout our global real estate portfolio.
“This agreement with NextEra Energy Resources is a critical next step towards achieving our goals for utilizing renewable energy for 100 percent of our global portfolio. What is especially exciting is that, with this agreement and the achievement of other milestones, 100 percent of our data center business now operates on renewable electricity.”
The Pretty Prairie project will be built, owned and operated by NextEra Energy Resources.
Following the start of operations by the end of 2019,, Iron Mountain’s portion of the project will generate enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of 56,000 US homes.
It will also offset fossil fuel emissions equivalent to removing more than 101,000 cars from the road annually.
The Pretty Prairie project is expected to create over 250 during the construction phase, which is expected to last between six and nine months.
Once operational, the project is expected create between 15-20 full-time jobs.
Besides, the project will generate an estimated $50 million in payments to local landowners, as well as provide additional tax revenue to the local community in the first 30 years of its operations.
NextEra Energy Resources development vice president John Di Donato said: “We are excited to partner with Iron Mountain to help the company achieve its next milestone along its renewable energy journey.
“The Pretty Prairie Wind project will not only help advance Iron Mountain’s renewable energy goals, it will help drive the local economy forward, creating good jobs, millions of dollars in landowner payments, and additional revenue for the community to enhance roads, schools, and other essential services.”
Currently, NextEra Energy Resources operates over 14,000MW of wind power.