MINNEAPOLIS – General Mills Inc. has signed a virtual 15-year power purchase agreement for 200 megawatts of the Maverick Creek wind project of Roaring Fork Wind LLC, a joint venture between Renewable Energy Systems (RES) and Steelhead Americas.

The agreement marks General Mills’ largest wind power agreement and second in two years. The new wind project will be located in central Texas, approximately 10 miles from Cactus Flats, site of General Mills’ first wind energy purchase agreement, which was signed in 2017. It will produce renewable energy credits for General Mills that will be combined with the company’s other wind power agreement to equal 100 percent of the electricity used annually at General Mills’ domestic facilities.

“General Mills began its milling operations more than 150 years ago with water power from the banks of the Mississippi river," said John Church, chief supply chain officer and global business solutions officer at General Mills. “By learning from history, and tying back to our clean power roots, the equivalent of our domestic facilities’ annual electricity needs will be covered by clean wind power, helping to reach our climate commitment of decreasing our carbon footprint by 28 percent by 2025.”

General Mills said renewable energy credits from the Maverick Creek wind project will be applied toward its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. The credits will allow General Mills to reduce its Scope 2 emissions as part of its target of sustainable emission levels across its global value chain by 2050, the company said.

As of 2018, General Mills said it has reduced the greenhouse gas emissions of its extended value chain by 13 percent compared to its 2010 baseline.