Truck engine firm gaining wind power

Cummins, known globally for its diesel and alternative fuel engines while also beating Tesla to the release of a heavy-duty electric truck, will add wind power too.

The Indiana US-based company has been gearing for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction in its facilities since 2006 and its present goal includes committing to increase renewable energy.

It has 8mW of solar capacity across 13 of its installations with plans for more, but it wanted to scale up, the Rocky Mountain Institute reports.

In August 2017, Cummins signed its first virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with EDP Renewables North America for 75mW of wind capacity over 15 years.

It will help an existing 600mW wind farm in Northwest Indiana expand by 75mW.

That will produce electricity slightly above Cummins’ usage at all its Indiana facilities, equal to about 50% of its US usage and 28% of its global usage.

The heavy industry sector has procured little utility-scale renewable energy before now. General Motors and Lockheed Martin, both members of Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center, are among the few to have signed PPAs for utility-scale renewables, the institute blog says.

Cummins, meanwhile, brings together all its electrification resources under the newest of its business sectors, the Electrified Power Segment.

It is positioned to provide fully electric and hybrid powertrain solutions along with technology leading components and subsystems to serve all its markets as they adopt electrification.

In development are the Cummins Electric Power Battery (EPB) and the Cummins Power Hybrid Plug-In (HPP) systems for urban buses, which are expected to launch in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

In addition, Cummins intends to deliver product offerings to future markets, including pick-up and delivery applications, as they adopt electric solutions.