Directpurchases of wind energy by corporate buyers rose significantly in 2015, potentiallysignaling a new trend in renewable energy, according to data released April 7 bythe American Wind Energy Association
While2014 saw companies announcing deals for wind to supply their energy needs at levelsunheard of in previous years, wind power purchase agreements from nonutility customersin 2015 were more than double the 2014 level as a share of the market, the lobbyinggroup for the wind industry announced.
Someof the biggest purchases of wind last year were made by Amazon.com Inc.'s cloud computing company, ; ; ; and
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The trendis driven by companies trying to meet internal goals of promoting sustainability,according to AWEA Research Analyst Hannah Hunt. In addition, corporate buyers areseeking stable sources of energy that are not tied to variable fuel costs, suchas energy generated by natural gas. "In recent years, what's bolsteredthis trend is that these companies are interested in low-cost, fixed-price energy,"Hunt said.
The data on nonutility purchases also includes wind agreementsmade by noncorporate entities such as universities and cities, AWEA said in a statement.
Corporatepurchases have also continued into 2016. In February, Minnesota-based manufacturer3M Co. it would purchase 120 MW from 's Gunsight Wind EnergyCenter in Texas as part of a program to increase the company's use of renewableenergy by 800,000 MWh to get 25% of its energy from renewables by 2025.
Thatdeal came shortly after Alphabet Inc.unit Google Inc.
IberdrolaRenewables is a subsidiary of IberdrolaSA, and EDP Renewables North America is a subsidiary of