Materials science firm Corning Incorporated has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Duke Energy Renewables, an arm of utility Duke Energy, to purchase 50MW of the power from Duke’s 80MW solar energy plant in North Carolina.
From Q1 next year, Corning will buy 62.5% of the power output from the facility which stands at around 120,300MWh per annum. This portion is the equivalent of powering roughly 10,000 homes in the US.
The new solar facility is being constructed by Duke Energy renewables in Conetoe.
Jeffrey Evenson, Corning seniour vice president and chief strategy officer, said: “Going green makes good business sense because it encourages efficiencies and clean power usage that eventually lower costs. We believe this decision fits our corporate mission to be a good steward of the environment.”
Corning has had a series of initiatives dedicated to clean air including producing the first emission control substrate that enabled the auto industry to meet standards set in the Clean Air Act in 1972, the company claims. Furthermore in 2006, Corning established its Global Energy Management program, which drives efficient energy use and saved Corning more than US$410 million in cumulative energy costs.