Intel Blows in the Wind: Adds Turbines Atop HQ
Intel is installing a total of 58 microturbines as part of a pilot wind power project.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich checked out the new installation on the roof of Intel's headquarters, the Robert Noyce Building.With Krzanich is Josh Beckwith, construction project manager with JLM Energy, the Rocklin, Calif.-based company that built and is installing the microturbines.
American wind industry jobs and turbine deployment regained momentum heading into 2015, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported last month in the U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report. The U.S. wind industry added 23,000 jobs in 2014, boosting the sector’s total to 73,000 jobs. 2015 began with 12,700 MW of wind projects under construction, a record for the start of any year, the advocacy group said.
The cost of wind energy was more than halved between 2009 and 2013, AWEA reported, due to advanced technologies such as improved siting techniques, larger rotor diameters, and taller towers that increased energy production and opened up new development regions. In fact, in the Midwest wind marketshare accounted for up to 80 percent of all new electricity generated, the report said.
Source: AWEA
Intel is not alone in its usage of wind. More corporations are harnessing this power source. Almost one-fourth (23 percent) of the Midwest contracted through 2014 power purchase agreements were with non-utility off-takers including Amazon, Microsoft, the General Services Administration (GSA), Walmart, and Yahoo, according to AWEA. These organizations were attracted by wind energy’s ability to offer stably-priced energy, given its lack of fuel cost uncertainty, the association reported.
And, judging by AWEA's map, like Intel, many of these businesses are located in California.
