Constellation Wines U.S. Announces World's Largest Winery Solar Installation

GONZALES, Calif., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Constellation Wines U.S. (CWUS) today announced that it has begun installation of the largest winery solar power energy system in the world at its Gonzales Winery, located in Monterey County, Calif. The one megawatt solar system will cover approximately 170,000 square feet of the main winery warehouse roof and will roduce more than 1,700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, providing approximately 50 percent of the winery's total energy requirements. The installation is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Immediate environmental benefits from this project include a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and an annually reduced carbon footprint equivalent to planting 2,500 acres of trees, not driving an average automobile 25 million miles, or taking more than 2,000 cars off the road.

"We are proud and excited about this solar project," said Jose Fernandez, CEO, Constellation Wines North America. "We are committed to investing in technologies that will allow us to produce our wines in the most sustainable way possible, from our vineyards through the entire winemaking process. This installation is one of the most significant environmental projects undertaken to date by the wine industry, and will have a positive impact on the environment, as well as being cost effective."

Clean renewable energy such as solar power helps to protect the environment, lowers energy and consumer product prices, and reduces strain on the electric utility grid by generating electricity when demand is high during the summer. California, in particular, benefits from solar power due to its high number of annual sunlight hours.

"During the summer months, when the winery is not crushing grapes, the system will export enough electricity onto PG&E's power lines to supply all of the electrical needs for about 25 percent of the roughly 1,695 households in Gonzales," said Kelly McMahon, Director of Sales for Pacific Power Management, who is working with Constellation on this project.

Constellation Brands, Inc. President and CEO Rob Sands added, "The installation of this solar energy system demonstrates our focus on sustainable business practices that have social, environmental and economic benefits. As the global leader in the wine business, our goal is to establish best practice industry standards that will be beneficial to the environment, as well as to our customers and communities around the world."

CWUS is dedicated to improving the environment and pursues related initiatives including soil management, water recycling, grape composting, energy conservation, alternative packaging, to name several as examples. The current solar energy project is also supported by California's Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

"PG&E remains dedicated to helping meet California's requirements for clean and renewable energy" said Janice Berman, Senior Director of Generation and Revenue for PG&E. Constellation is showing great leadership in pursuing alternative energy sources via this solar project, and we are pleased to have worked closely with them to achieve this goal."