San Francisco based Salesforce, a cloud computing mammoth providing sales cloud, service cloud, and marketing cloud services to clients, has reportedly made plans to support a wind farm construction project in McLean County, in a bid to enhance its reach in the Chicago region. Astonishingly, this renewable energy project has been in the planning phase for the last 10 years, claim sources. According to reports familiar with the development, Salesforce will assist the construction of the Bright Stalk Wind Farm that will be owned and operated by EDP Renewables North America, an energy giant operating five renewable energy projects in Illinois. The project Bright Stalk is proposed to be constructed near Bloomington-Normal, with an anticipated power supply to 71,000 homes. According to a statement by Ryan Brown, Executive Vice President, EDP Renewables North America, Eastern Region & Canada, the construction of the $300 million wind farm project will commence by next spring. The deal would solidify EDP Renewables North America’s presence in Illinois, Brown said. It is a premium area of the country where wind resources are very strong, and communities & landowners show decent interest in hosting new projects, he added. According to analysts, Salesforce is moving ahead with this investment as a part of its expansion plans in Chicago. Though the firm already employs approximately 1500 employees in Chicago, it is considering the purchase of a 500,000 square feet office space near the Chicago River, cite trusted sources. Sources claim that Bright Stalk wind farm’s location is important because it is located in rural McLean County, which is near Indianapolis and halfway amid Salesforce’s data centers in the south of Chicago. Although the wind farm might not supply power to Salesforce’s Midwest facility, it would counterbalance the number of megawatt-hours utilized by the business. Interestingly, Salesforce earns revenue from electricity generation and a renewable energy credit, for every single Mwh of electricity generated by the wind farm. Salesforce has declined to reveal the size of the wind farm project investment.
