Bacardi Unveils Wind Turbine for Distillery
Bermuda headquartered Bacardi Corporation today unveiled the largest wind turbine installation in Puerto Rico, which will use natural wind energy to help power Bacardi’s distillery near San Juan.
The two Bacardi wind turbine units are industrial scale at 250kW each and are owned by Cataño-based Aspenall Energies, which will sell the electricity produced by wind to Bacardi under a power purchased agreement. With their blades, the turbines are 137 feet high, have a rotor diameter of 75 feet, and can be seen from miles away.
The two wind turbines are expected to generate approximately 1,000,000 kWh of electricity per year accounting for 3 – 7% of the power used by Bacardi, roughly the equivalent to the consumption of about 100 average households, with an expected carbon offset of more than 900 tons of CO2 per year.
This project is the first step in utilizing wind power as a renewable energy source for Bacardi, who say they would consider additional wind solutions and other energy saving initiatives.
Puerto Rico Governor Luis G. Fortuño said:
Puerto Rico relies on fossil fuels for virtually all its energy, so we hope other companies will follow this great leadership by Bacardi to use wind energy and other renewable energy sources.
Joaquin Bacardi, President of Cataño-based Bacardi Corporation said:
We’re always looking for ways to help the environment and reduce our carbon footprint. Our latest innovation with these two specialized wind turbines seizes the power of the wind adding more force to Bacardi’s overall environmental commitment to save energy.
Other environmental initiatives at the Bacardi facility in Puerto Rico include recycling old ageing barrels by dismantling and chopping them and giving the barrel chips to employees as mulch for their gardens and as well as spread on facility landscaping. As a novel idea to re-purpose promotional banners, Bacardi cuts and sews old banners into reusable shopping bags for employees.
To save water usage at the Cataño site, Bacardi treats wastewater that is then used in cooling towers during the production process. This saves 22,000 gallons of water every day.
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