Whirlpool starts construction on 3 wind turbines

Whirlpool Corp. started construction today on three wind turbines to help power its Marion, Ohio manufacturing facility.

The three turbines will deliver wind generated power directly to the plant and when fully completed, are expected to provide approximately 19 percent of the total power consumption of the facility, the company said.

Whirlpool employs 10,000 workers in Ohio, including about 1,000 at its Greenville facility.

The Marion wind project— which is scheduled for completion in early 2017 — is expected to eliminate the equivalent of more than 9,000 tons of CO2. All three turbines will be built and financed by One Energy as part of its “Wind for Industry” projects, Whirlpool said in a release.

“We’re always exploring cutting edge technologies that will bring us closer to accomplishing our sustainability goals,” said Ron Voglewede, director of Global Sustainability at Whirlpool, in a release. “We’re excited to bring a local focus for our global commitment to sustainability here in the Marion community and throughout Ohio, where we have significant investments in employees and facilities.”

The Marion plant is one of three facilities in Ohio where Whirlpool is implementing wind energy to partially power its manufacturing operations. Two wind turbines at the company’s Findlay plant have been operational since January. In October this year, a similar project began at Whirlpool’s Ottawa facility.

In August, the company announced plans to nearly double its distribution size at its Greenville operation, which ships all of the company's KitchenAid small appliances.

This is the second expansion at the Greenville location in recent years. The company opened this spring its $40 million, 218,000 square foot expansion to the manufacturing side of the building.

The new expansion will grow the company’s warehouse from 327,000 square feet to approximately 650,000 square feet. On Wednesday, company officials said they were on schedule to open the expansion in March 2017.

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