Whirlpool to build wind turbines to power Ohio plants

Whirlpool Corp., Benton Harbor, Mich., has announced plans to build wind turbines to help power its Marion and Ottawa plants in Ohio. When completed, the $13.5 million project could make Whirlpool one of the Fortune 500 consumers of on-site wind energy in the U.S., the company states.

The three Marion turbines, scheduled for completion in early 2017, are expected to offset the company’s electricity consumption by 19 percent, eliminating the equivalent of more than 9,000 tons of CO2. Ottawa’s turbine is expected to offset the plant’s electricity consumption by 34 percent when completed at the end of 2016. Collectively, the firm will be generating enough clean energy to power more than 2,400 average U.S. homes.