Change Is in the Air: Wind Energy Comes to the Fore
Rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been a pest swarming the fashion industry for decades, but only recently has the alarming rate at which these carbon dioxide secretions are rising—up 90 percent since 1970, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—gotten the attention many observers believe they deserve.
As fashion attempts to reduce its carbon footprint and the effect of its environmental impact, companies across the value chain are going straight to the source. Investments in clean energy totaled $495 billion worldwide in 2022, according to Statista, and the unsung hero of the renewable movement is not solar power but wind energy, which has become the primary source of renewable power generation in the states, per energy research and consultancy Wood Mackenzie. It doesn’t hurt that, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, wind energy is the cheapest source in the country, either.
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But is it happening fast enough? The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) doesn’t think so.
“Wind energy is not growing nearly fast or widely enough to realize a secure and resilient global energy transition. At current rates of installation, GWEC Market Intelligence forecasts that by 2030, we will have less than two-thirds of the wind energy capacity required for a 1.5 Celsius and net-zero pathway, effectively condemning us to miss our climate goals,” Joyce Lee, head of policy and projects at GWEC, said in the organization’s 2022 Global Wind Report. “Wind energy’s role as a protagonist of the energy transition will depend on ensuring the industry’s growth is sustainable, just and socially responsible, while resting on a clear and viable economic proposition.”
Condemnation aside, the fashion industry is cutting the red tape to move toward a green future.
“Every industry must play its role in accelerating the net zero transition, and the apparel industry is no exception,” Ollie Wilson, head of RE100, an environmental initiative run by NGO the Climate Group in partnership with the non-profit CDP, told Sourcing Journal. “Every RE100 organization has committed itself to using 100 percent renewable electricity, and we’re proud that apparel companies are RE100 members. Not least because of the impact and scale of their operations. They can make a significant difference in the drive to zero carbon grids. This group of companies are accelerating global demand for renewable electricity, including wind and solar power, and we invite other apparel companies to step up and show similar climate leadership.”
In 2016, RE100 member Nike entered a direct power purchase agreement (DPRA) for the electricity it uses at its headquarters in Oregon, which is powered by wind farms in the nearby Columbia River Gorge. In 2019, Nike signed its first European power purchase agreement (PPA), which allowed the athletic Goliath to become 75 percent powered by renewable electricity worldwide through a supply of 40 megawatts (MW) of wind power from a 111 MW project built by clean energy company Iberdrola in Navarra, Spain. A year earlier, the “Move to Zero” company signed a PPA to source wind energy in Texas through U.S. utility company Avangrid Renewables, shifting its North American operations to 100 percent renewable power, though Nike sued Avangrid for $31 million in a wind power deal dispute earlier this summer. Nike did not respond to Sourcing Journal’s request to comment on the lawsuit.
H&M has been committed to 100 percent renewable power since RE100 was founded over nine years ago and already sources more than 90 percent of its electricity from renewables. The Swedish giant was also the first international fashion retailer to pledge to double its energy productivity through EP100, a global corporate energy efficiency initiative, in 2017. In 2021, the H&M Group issued an approximately $536 million sustainability-linked bond as a new way to invest in its company while investing in the environment and the planet.
“Our in-house green investment team is constantly looking into investment alternatives to further strengthen the availability and usage of renewable energy and fund the innovation and distribution of technology that will allow us to fully decarbonize our production and logistics operations,” Henrik Sundberg, climate impact lead for the H&M Group, said. “During 2022, we sourced 92 percent of electricity in our own operations, about 4.25 million gigajoules, from renewable sources, including wind energy.”
And Lululemon, a RE100 member since 2019, signed a 10-year, 15 MW virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) in 2021 for renewable energy from Enel Green Power’s Azure Sky wind project in Texas, enabling the infamous legging company to achieve its goal of sourcing 100 percent renewable electricity across its direct operations in North America.
“Lululemon is committed to helping create an apparel industry that’s both sustainable and inclusive, and addresses the serious implications of climate change, including working toward a net-zero future and cutting carbon emissions across our value chain,” Esther Spek, vice president of sustainable business and impact for Lululemon, said at the time. “Science clearly shows the urgent need to act now. That’s why, among others, we’ve partnered with Enel Green Power North America to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and reduce our emissions footprint.”
Inditex has been boosting renewable energy and efficiency measures for nearly 20 years, the Zara owner said, and built its first wind turbine in 2005. Last year, the Spanish titan achieved its target of 100 percent renewably sourced electricity consumption at its facilities, though the retailer isn’t done yet. In 2021, the fast-fashion purveyor “commenced the necessary procedures” to start the authorization process for the Outer Port Wind Facility in A Coruña, Spain, with an estimated investment of roughly $35 million scheduled to begin service in 2025. The goal is to generate on-site the renewable energy necessary to cover the annual electricity its Arteixo, Spain, headquarters needs. This project, developed in collaboration with the Port Authority of A Coruña, involves installing three wind turbines, each with a 5.5-6 MW capacity.
New Balance, a RE100 member since 2019, sourced 60 percent of its electricity from renewable sources in 2020, up approximately 20 percent from 2017. Its Flimby footwear factory in the England village of Cumbria is “particularly well suited” for wind energy, the Boston-based Nike rival said in its latest sustainability report, and the company began investigating the viability of constructing an on-site wind turbine in 2021 and received internal approval for the project in 2022. While the initiative is still undergoing local review and application, it is expected to be completed before the end of this year. The 1 MW turbine will generate around 2,000 MWh of clean, renewable electricity annually. Combined with the solar panels already in place, this will exceed the facility’s energy needs—potentially eliminating the need to burn fossil fuels on-site.
“Investing in renewable energy is a key component of addressing climate change,” John Stokes, sustainability director at New Balance, said. “We recognize that our day-to-day actions impact people and the planet, and that by understanding these impacts and reshaping our industry, we can improve the lives of people throughout our value chain and protect the environment.”
Ingka Investments—the investment arm of Ikea—and Apex Clean Energy announced the company’s first-ever battery storage project, Cameron Storage, which will support the Texas power grid and “increase reliability amid fluctuations in supply and demand,” the company said. The 16.5 MW project is co-located with Ingka’s Cameron Wind Farm, a 55-turbine, 165 MW project operational since 2015.
“This is an important step in our journey towards becoming climate positive,” Peter van der Poel, managing director at Ingka Investments, said. “Going forward, we aim to invest in a mix of wind, solar and energy storage. Investing in all three technologies will help to provide renewable energy during more hours of the year and optimize the use of our grid connections.”
Balancing Impact
The vast majority of the fashion world is playing from behind regarding their wind-centric enterprises. But some are making headway in their efforts.
Under Armour has a sustainability goal to increase renewable energy in owned and operated facilities to 100 percent by 2030, the company said, though it admittedly hasn’t done much relevant to wind. But, as a “proud participant” of the Fashion Pact’s collective VPPA commitment—which was announced late last year and aims to expand renewable energy adoption in Europe through over 100,000 MWh per year of wind or solar power generation added to the grid in the region—the activewear company said that its participation could offset as much as 100 percent of its projected 2030 emissions on the continent.
Adidas, however, has made formidable gains in the wind energy space. The German sportswear giant acknowledges that having a low-carbon footprint is a “team sport,” and implored its Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers to adopt clean energy (such as wind) through all available avenues—renewable energy sourced through PPAs or government incentives like feed-in tariffs, for example—in its 2022 Annual Report.
With bottom lines under increased scrutiny, wind’s allure is also favored by the numbers.
While renewable energy is cleaner than fossil fuels, some consider wind turbines to be even more efficient than solar panels. While the most effective solar panels capture and convert roughly 23 percent of sunlight into energy, wind turbines can turn about 50 percent of wind into energy, according to renewable energy supplier Verde Energy. Wind is also cheaper than solar by roughly 68 percent per watt, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory experts anticipating additional cost reductions of up to 30 percent by 2030 and up to 41 percent by 2050.
“Wind and sunshine don’t cost anything,” Morten Dyrholm, chairman of GWEC, said in the company’s 2022 global wind report.
This article ran in the Sustainability Report: Measuring Impact. To download the full report, click here.
