Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) announced it has signed a Renewable Product Purchase Agreement (RPPA) with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC for 308 megawatts of energy to be produced by a new wind farm project in Scurry County, Texas.
According to a press release, the RPPA is the largest of its kind for the steel industry in North America. This project marks significant progress toward the company's decarbonization goals, SDI said.
Once operational, the wind farm project is expected to produce approximately 1.1 million MWh of electricity annually, equivalent to 16 percent of the company's steel mills' electricity usage in 2022, surpassing the company's 2025 goal of 10 percent renewable electricity and moving toward its 2030 goal of 30 percent. Additionally, this is expected to “meaningfully contribute” to the company's long-term reduction of Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions intensity, SDI said.
The new wind energy center will be developed, owned, and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources and is expected to be operational by the end of 2024, with an estimated annual output equivalent to the electricity consumed by over 100,000 average US homes.