A new $13.5-million investment by Whirlpool Corporation announced today has the potential to make the Benton Harbor-based appliance giant one of the largest Fortune 500 consumers on on-site wind energy in the entire United States. With plans revealed today to build wind turbines to help power operations at Marion and Ottawa in Ohio, the company will, collectively, be generating enough clean energy to power more than 2,400 average American homes.
Ron Voglewede is Director of Global Sustainability for Whirlpool Corporation. He says today, "Whirlpool Corporation is proud to be a global leader in sustainable on-site energy generation for manufacturing, and this project is the latest to demonstrate our commitment to sustainable and renewable solutions." He notes, "In addition to lowering our operational footprint and costs, we are continuing to optimize and innovate the appliances that are being built in Marion and Ottawa to lower energy and water consumption to help our consumers reduce their environmental footprints, while improving performance."
The three Marion turbines — which are scheduled for completion in early 2017 — are expected to offset Whirlpool Corporation's electric consumption by 19-percent, eliminating the equivalent of more than 9,000 tons of CO2. Similarly, Ottawa's turbine is expected to offset the plant's electrical consumption by 34-percent, once completed at the end of 2016. All turbines will be built and financed by One Energy as part of its "Wind for Industry" project. The turbines will be the same Goldwind 1.5 megawatt turbines that were used for Whirlpool Corporation's previous project in Findlay, Ohio. The 3-megawatt wind farm project at the Findlay plant has been operating since January 2016.
Following the completion of the Marion and Ottawa projects, many dishwashers, freezers and clothes dryers manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation and sold in the United States will be made, in part, with wind energy.
Voglewede tells us, "These wind farm projects are a great example of how global companies can make an environmental impact on a local level by investing in sustainable operations."
As part of this local commitment, Whirlpool Corporation will also create one $5,000 Megawatt STEM Scholarship per wind turbine to be awarded annually to a graduating senior from local Marion and Ottawa high schools as a way to inspire education in the technologies and industries of the future.
Whirlpool Corporation is the number one major appliance manufacturer in the world, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 97,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2015. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Indesit and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com, or find them on Twitter at @WhirlpoolCorp.
