Northrop Grumman Corp. is pursuing the use of 100% renewable energy across its operations in Virginia, acquiring a solar power facility in development in Virginia. The defense contractor announced that it has entered into a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Dominion Generation, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion Energy, that enables the construction of a new 6.2-MW solar-power facility in Orange County, VA.
The facility, initially developed by Cypress Creek Renewables, is expected to break ground by 2021 and be operational by 2022. It is being constructed to produce 140 MW-h electricity annually (enough for about 11,000 households), avoiding about 49,000 metric tons of carbon emissions each year. It should be capable of supplying enough renewable energy to the power grid to meet Northrop Grumman’s electricity demands across Virginia for all manufacturing and office operations. By 2022, the renewable energy produced by Northrop Grumman for its own use is expected to account for 10% of the company’s total global energy usage. Northrop Grumman is headquartered in Falls Church, VA (see figure).
“We have a long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” said Sandra Evers-Manly, vice-president, global corporate responsibility for Northrop Grumman. “As we look beyond our 2020 goals, this project will play an important role in the next generation of our climate-related commitments,” he added. In addition to this facility in progress, Northrop Grumman has solar power systems in its Charlottesville, VA plant and its Melbourne, FL and St. Augustine, FL locations. Kevin Haley, director for the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, adds: “We applaud Northrop Grumman for driving renewable energy use and for being one of the largest manufacturers in the Commonwealth of Virginia to offset its energy consumption in the state with local renewable energy generation.” The alliance is an organization that works to streamline and accelerate corporate purchasing of off-site, large-scale renewable energy.