Oil Giant Exxon Turns to Wind, Solar for Home-State Operations

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, has agreed to buy half a gigawatt of renewable energy to help run operations in its home state of Texas.

Denmark’s Orsted A/S will supply the largest U.S. oil producer with 250 megawatts of solar and 250 megawatts of wind power beginning in 2020, according to a slide from an Orsted investor presentation Wednesday. That’s enough power to supply about 400,000 average U.S. homes. Irving, Texas-based Exxon signed 12-year contracts for the renewable energy to serve company operations in the state, said Julie King, an Exxon spokeswoman.

Half the power will come from the Sage Draw wind farm, which Orsted’s Lincoln Clean Energy plans to finish building in early 2020, with the remainder from the Permian Solar farm set for completion in the second quarter of the following year. In August, Exxon was said to be seeking renewable energy under long-term contracts from a group of potential developers.

“We frequently evaluate opportunities to diversify our power supply and ensure competitive costs,” King said in an email.