Through a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA), Enel will sell a portion of the electricity delivered to the grid from a Texas wind energy project to Kellogg Company, Enel said on March 3.
A virtual PPA is a financial deal under which the buyer pays a set price but doesn’t directly buy electricity from the project. Power from the project is sold into the wholesale market. If the wholesale price is higher than the price in the virtual PPA, the offtaker receives the difference. If the price is lower, the offtaker pays the facility owner to make up the difference.
Italy-based Enel, through its U.S. renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power North America, has started construction of the Azure Sky wind plus storage project, its first large-scale hybrid project globally to integrate wind and battery storage at one site.
Through a 100-megawatt VPPA, Enel will sell to Kellogg a 360 GWh portion of the electricity delivered to the grid annually from the Azure Sky wind project, which is equal to 50% of the volume of electricity used across Kellogg’s North American manufacturing facilities.
Located in Throckmorton County, Texas, the 350-MW wind farm paired with approximately 137 MW of battery storage will be Enel’s third hybrid project in the US that integrates a renewable energy plant with utility-scale battery storage.
Enel said that the battery storage system at Azure Sky will be capable of storing the power generated by the wind turbines, while also providing services to enhance grid flexibility. At around 137 MW, the system will be one of the largest battery storage facilities in the world, according to Enel.
Kellogg and its subsidiaries are engaged in the manufacture and marketing of ready-to-eat cereal and convenience foods.
Starbucks enters VPPAs
Starbucks Corp. in December said it was entering into solar and solar-plus-storage VPPAs to support its corporate sustainability goals.
