Walmart Celebrates Newly-Operational Industrial Wind Turbine at Distribution Center in Red Bluff, California

RED BLUFF, Calif., Oct. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Walmart celebrated its newly operational large-scale wind turbine at its distribution center in Red Bluff, California. The wind turbine is Walmart's first onsite industrial-sized wind turbine and will generate approximately 2,200,000 kilowatt hours of power, providing up to 20 percent of the distribution center's annual electricity use. U.S. House Representative Wally Herger joined local officials, as well as Walmart and Foundation Windpower executives, to commemorate the pilot project.

The GE SLE 1.0 Megawatt Wind Turbine is comparable in height to a typical 20-story building, with a tower measuring 265 feet tall and a blade spanning 250 feet in diameter. Under the terms of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Foundation Windpower the project will contribute to energy expense savings as well as provide price certainty for the electricity produced. Foundation Windpower installs, owns, and operates the wind turbine while Walmart purchases the power produced at a fixed rate. Red Bluff was selected for the installation because it provides an ideal environment for an installation of this scale, with good wind conditions and available land already owned by Walmart.

"I commend Walmart and Foundation Windpower for their commitment to investing in Red Bluff and for working to produce more American-made energy," said Congressman Wally Herger (R- CA 02). "This project demonstrates how private-sector-led innovation can create jobs and bring down prices for consumers. By making good use of the natural resources Northern California has been blessed with, we can bring more economic growth and opportunity to our communities."

"The Red Bluff pilot project is a shining example of how Walmart has made the serious commitment to finding renewable energy solutions for its operations as we work towards the goal of being supplied by 100 percent renewable energy," said Kim Saylors-Laster, vice president of energy at Walmart.  "With the Red Bluff wind turbine now fully operational, we look forward to continuing to explore renewable energy alternatives to support our operations and reduce our utility costs throughout the country and around the world."

"We are delighted to celebrate this partnership with Walmart.  Our project is highly visible evidence that the world's largest retailer is also the most forward thinking on issues of sustainability and renewable energy," said John Pimentel, president of Foundation Windpower. "Foundation Windpower now has 22 Megawatts of distributed wind projects in California and looks forward to completing additional similar projects across the country."

The wind turbine in Red Bluff is one of more than 180 renewable energy efforts underway worldwide as Walmart works towards its goal of being supplied by 100 percent renewable energy. In addition to a number of solar-focused efforts – including a goal to bring solar energy to more than 75 percent of Walmart and Sam's Club stores in California, approximately 130 stores, by the end of 2013 – Walmart's current wind energy projects include:

• A 90-megawatt wind farm in West Texas, providing 15 percent of power for over 300 Walmart stores and Sam's Clubs and delivering the power purchase equivalent to annual usage of more than 20,000 average American homes
• 348 stores in Mexico supplied by wind power, providing 17 percent of energy needs for Walmart de Mexico and reducing CO2 emissions by 137,240 tons annually
• Wind power provides 100 percent of the electricity needs in fourteen stores in Northern Ireland
• Additional wind energy projects include 12 mini wind turbines that power a Walmart store in Worchester, Massachusetts, wind turbine installations at Walmart's food distribution center in Balzac, Alberta Canada and micro wind installations at the Sam's Club in Palmdale, California

Learn more about Walmart's commitment to sustainability at The Green Room and follow us on Twitter (@WalmartGreen) to get updates about sustainability efforts and milestones. Additional information about our commitment to renewable energy is also available on our website.

About Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices.  Each week, more than 200 million customers and members visit our 10,300 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2012 sales of approximately $444 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmartnewsroom. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.

About Foundation Windpower

Foundation Windpower develops, finances, constructs, owns, and operates utility-scale distributed wind projects on-site at large energy consumers. Our projects, which total over 20 MW of production capacity, require no capital expense from customers. Foundation Windpower creates an immediate and sustained reduction in energy costs while delivering 100 percent renewable electricity through long term power purchase agreements.  Customers include cement plants, mines, food processors, manufacturers, refrigerated warehouses, data centers, and water treatment plants where Foundation Windpower deploys utility-scale wind equipment in 1 MW to 5 MW configurations on-site.  Foundation Windpower has offices in Menlo Park and San Francisco, California.

SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.