Later this year, the vehicle test track at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois, facility will get something very cool: a wind turbine hundreds of feet high. The turbine is rated for 2.8 megawatts and can generate up to 10 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually.
Why do it? I’ll have Rivian answer:
“For us, our work is not done when our vehicles get off the line,” said Andrew Peterman, Rivian Director of Renewable Energy. “While we work hard to help electrify transport, we are also pushing to accelerate the shift to carbon-free electricity for all. This wind turbine is an early step on that path, and it is also a beacon of our vision for a clean energy future. ”
And Rivian lives by that quote. Not only is it building the turbine, but the company is also building a 783 kilowatt solar panel array at the factory. Thus, between the two sources, the plant should get most, if not all, of its energy from renewable energy. In addition, it will power some of the plant’s neighbors.
It’s all part of the company’s overall strategy to place renewable energy where the network needs it most instead of, for example, placing more renewable energy in California. The energy network in Illinois is only 11% powered by renewable energy, so the addition of a turbine to the area will have a greater impact than it would add to another location with a generous supply. Over the 25 years it was supposed to run, it could emit as much as 177,000 tons of CO2 emissions, which would equate to taking 34,000 ICE vehicles off U.S. roads for a year.
Another great benefit: When a Rivian comes off the assembly line and gets its first charge, that charge will come from sun and wind. After that, what feeds a Rivian truck or sport utility vehicle will depend on the customer and probably their local network, but they will at least get the vehicle clean and running.
Rivian is not in the turbine industry, so he works with Apex Clean Energy, a renewable energy company based in the United States and based in Virginia. They have already built more than 700 megawatts of wind power in Illinois alone, so it is going to be a very normal process for the company to build another turbine at the Normal plant.
The permit application has already been submitted to the local city, and they will probably get final approval this summer to set up the turbine.
When completed, the tower will be as high as 510 feet high, and will have non-reflective white blades. Rivian went the extra mile to not only plan a good installation for their own purposes, but did research on what the impact on local wildlife would be of things like blade strikes and light flicker. The impact is kept to a minimum, and the sound is supposed to be just about what you will get from a home fridge.
We are obviously going to need a lot more renewable electricity to make electric trucks and other electric vehicles the cleanest they can be, but that’s a good start and more than most companies would do.
Exhibit image: Rivian’s Normal, Illinois plant. Image provided by Rivian.
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