In an effort to cut costs and reduce the company’s carbon footprint, HP is installing a roof-mounted solar power installation at its San Diego facility and securing wind-produced electricity for its operations in Ireland.
HP signed an agreement with SunPower Corp. for the installation of a 1-megawatt solar electric power system. Initial estimates indicate that the project will save HP approximately $750,000 in energy costs during the next 15 years, and allow HP earn renewable energy credits.
HP will be taking advantage of incentives provided under the California Public Utilities Commission’s California Solar Initiative, which aims to increase solar energy use statewide. The international computing and printing company will not own the installation, rather it will buy the power produced from SunPower (approximately 10% of the facility’s needs) at a reduced, locked-in rate under SunPower’s AccessT program. The HP solar electric system will be financed and owned by a third-party financier.
In Ireland, HP will purchase nearly 90% of it’s energy from Airtricity, a renewable energy company developing and operating wind farms across Europe and North America. Through the contract, HP will purchase more than 80 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy.
It is estimated that the agreement will save HP approximately $40,000 over the year-long contract, while reducing about 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to taking 9,600 cars off the road for one year.
“Switching to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power makes both environmental and business sense,” said Pat Tiernan, vice president, Social and Environmental Responsibility, HP. “These advances are just part of HP’s comprehensive energy-efficiency program, which we believe is the most aggressive in the technology industry.”
HP also will extend the benefits of solar power beyond its facilities to employees by creating a solar employee purchase program in the United States. Employees will receive a rebate of up to $2,000 from SunPower when using the SunPower Premier Dealer network for the installation of a solar power system for their homes. In addition, HP will match the SunPower rebate of up to $2,000 per installation.
In 2006, HP purchased 11 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy for use in its operations. HP also joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Purchase program – a challenge to Fortune 500 companies to double their renewable energy purchases by the end of 2007. HP plans to increase renewable energy purchases by more than 350 percent by procuring 50 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity during 2007.
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