CHARLOTTE — Three companies, Duke Energy, NextEra Energy Resources, and Wells Fargo, are parties to a 20-year renewable energy purchase agreement, under which Wells Fargo will consume all–100%–of the solar energy produced by the Blackburn Solar Project in Catawba County.

According to Wells Fargo, the transaction is the largest in the company’s history, and the agreement will provide 8% of the company’s annual global electricity, including 100% of the eligible load within the Duke Energy Carolinas service area, where Wells Fargo maintains a real estate footprint of 7.5 million square feet, housing about 36,000 employees.

The Blackburn Solar Project facility is scheduled to come online in 2022, and the facility is projected to provide approximately $2.3 million in economic benefits and as many as 100 jobs in Catawba County along the site, that adjoins the Catawba River.

“Leveraging our annual energy spend to advance green infrastructure development in the U.S. and create new revenue streams for communities is one way we are helping contribute to more sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities,” said Richard Henderson, head of Wells Fargo’s corporate properties group in a statement issued by the company.

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The agreement is made under Duke Energy’s Green Source Advantage (GSA) program, launched by the company following 2017 legislation in North Carolina.  The program allows large customers–like Wells Fargo–to offset their power purchases by securing renewable energy from projects connected to the Duke Energy grid.

Under the agreement, Wells Fargo will keep the renewable energy certificates.