Baker Hughes to power all of its Texas facilities from renewables
Business // Energy
Sergio Chapa Dec. 11, 2019 Updated: Dec. 11, 2019 2:33 p.m.
Houston oilfield service and technology company Baker Hughes has entered into a deal to power all of its facilities in Texas from renewable sources such as wind and solar.
Photo: OCI Solar Power
In a Wednesday morning statement, Baker Hughes announced signing a 10-year power-purchase agreement with the French-owned power company EDF Energy to get all of the electricity for its 170 facilities in Texas from wind and solar.
Brokered by Houston-based Energy Edge Consulting, the deal will allow Baker Hughes facilities to get all their power from the Apex Clean Energy's White Mesa Wind Farm near the West Texas town of Ozona and a solar farm owned by Austin-based 7X Energy.
In a statement, Baker Hughes Health Safety Environment and Quality Officer Kevin Wetherington said Texas represents the company's largest region for energy use.
"We see this commitment to Texas-generated renewable power as an important step in our progress toward net-zero emissions, and we have many more projects underway to continue to reduce our global emissions," Wetherington said.
Service Sector: Baker Hughes pledges net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050
The power purchase agreement comes less than 11 months after Baker Hughes announced a lofty goal to have net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Company officials estimate that the wind and solar power deal will reduce the equivalent of 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over 10-year term of of the agreement. Equal to taking 27,000 cars off the roads, the deal will eliminate the equivalent to 12 percent of the company's global carbon emissions.
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With roots in Texas going back to 1907, Baker Hughes now employs more than 64,000 people in 120 nations.
The company reported a $195 million profit on nearly $23 billion of revenue during 2018.
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Sergio Chapa
Sergio Chapa covers the oil & gas industry for the Houston Chronicle and writes for Texas Inc., a weekly Monday insert dedicated to covering the most powerful business leaders in Texas. Sergio was born and raised in the Lone Star State and studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. He previously worked at the San Antonio Business Journal, KGBT-TV in the Rio Grande Valley and Al Día in Dallas.
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