Photo: Textron Aviation
The green revolution isn’t limited to mobility, but extends to everything that’s connected to it, including infrastructure and production facilities. One of the biggest names in aviation, Textron, has reached a milestone when it comes to clean operations, and it’s all about wind power.
Some have called wind power “the purest” of all renewable energy sources. It’s certainly making a comeback in maritime transportation, with several projects taking an innovative approach to sailing. But wind power has a far greater potential beyond that.
The U.S. and Australia have only recently made their debut onto offshore wind energy territory. The first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. is currently being built, 15 miles (24 km) off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. Comprised of 62 Haliade-X wind turbines, made by General Electric (GE), the Vineyard Wind is set to generate enough energy to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses.
At the same time, the Spanish-German manufacturer Siemens Gamesa is building the first turbine blade factory for offshore wind farms in the U.S. This pioneering factory will be located in Portsmouth, Virginia.
It’s part of a large-scale project. The ultimate goal? To build the largest offshore wind farm in the country. This is known as CVOW (Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project) and it’s set to produce enough energy for 600,000 homes.
It’s still a humble capacity, compared to the largest wind farm in the world (located in the UK). That one can power more than two million homes. But it’s a good start for using this natural resource to its full potential.
Textron is one of the companies that are betting on wind power as an important source of clean energy for its facilities. It’s not alone in this, but backed by Kansas, which happens to be one of the top producers of wind energy in the country.
Back in 2018, specific state regulations encouraged industry players to tap into this energy, by ensuring lower rates. Two years later, Textron took advantage of that and secured a multi-year agreement for clean energy coming from a new facility near Manhattan, Kansas. Things moved pretty fast – the Soldier Creek Wind Energy Center officially kicked off operations in 2021, and in 2022, all of Textron’s operations in Kansas were powered exclusively through this clean energy source.
The aviation giant recently confirmed that all of its facilities in Kansas used 100% wind-based electricity throughout all of 2022. The same is expected to happen this year.
Slowly but surely, Textron is reducing its overall greenhouse gas emissions. Its most ambitious goal, for now, is to cut these emissions by 20% in the following three years. If we want green flights, we need to back them up with equally-clean production processes.
The U.S. and Australia have only recently made their debut onto offshore wind energy territory. The first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. is currently being built, 15 miles (24 km) off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. Comprised of 62 Haliade-X wind turbines, made by General Electric (GE), the Vineyard Wind is set to generate enough energy to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses.
At the same time, the Spanish-German manufacturer Siemens Gamesa is building the first turbine blade factory for offshore wind farms in the U.S. This pioneering factory will be located in Portsmouth, Virginia.
It’s part of a large-scale project. The ultimate goal? To build the largest offshore wind farm in the country. This is known as CVOW (Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project) and it’s set to produce enough energy for 600,000 homes.
It’s still a humble capacity, compared to the largest wind farm in the world (located in the UK). That one can power more than two million homes. But it’s a good start for using this natural resource to its full potential.
Textron is one of the companies that are betting on wind power as an important source of clean energy for its facilities. It’s not alone in this, but backed by Kansas, which happens to be one of the top producers of wind energy in the country.
Back in 2018, specific state regulations encouraged industry players to tap into this energy, by ensuring lower rates. Two years later, Textron took advantage of that and secured a multi-year agreement for clean energy coming from a new facility near Manhattan, Kansas. Things moved pretty fast – the Soldier Creek Wind Energy Center officially kicked off operations in 2021, and in 2022, all of Textron’s operations in Kansas were powered exclusively through this clean energy source.
The aviation giant recently confirmed that all of its facilities in Kansas used 100% wind-based electricity throughout all of 2022. The same is expected to happen this year.
Slowly but surely, Textron is reducing its overall greenhouse gas emissions. Its most ambitious goal, for now, is to cut these emissions by 20% in the following three years. If we want green flights, we need to back them up with equally-clean production processes.
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