Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 1/20/11
 

Salisbury, Md.-based Perdue announced more than 11,000 solar panels will be installed at two Perdue facilities this summer, resulting in one of the largest commercially-owned solar power systems in the eastern United States.

The poultry processor has entered a 15-year agreement with Washington Gas Energy Services to purchase electricity generated by the solar panels at guaranteed prices.

By September 2011, the ground-mounted solar panels will cover the equivalent of approximately 10 football fields, on Perdue property. Almost half will be at the Perdue corporate offices in Salisbury with the rest at the company’s feed mill in Bridgeville, Del.

The systems, which will be owned and operated by WGES, will generate an average of 3,700 megawatt hours of electricity each year, or the amount of power used by 340 typical U.S. homes.  At peak production, the panels will produce as much as 90 percent of the electrical demand for each facility.
“Stewardship is one of our company’s core values, so this is a perfect fit for the way we do business,” said Steve Schwalb, Perdue’s vice president of environmental sustainability. “Using solar power means we’ll have a clean energy source that doesn’t pollute or create greenhouse gases, while lowering Perdue’s energy costs over the life of the project.”

Schwalb estimated the clean electricity from the solar panels will reduce Perdue’s carbon footprint by 3,000 tons per year, the equivalent of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from 300,000 gallons of gasoline per year, or nearly 4.5 million gallons through the life of the contract.

The Perdue family of companies includes Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness. The two companies employ more than 21,000 workers.

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