Google Looks at Powering Data Centres with Wind Energy in Belgium, Netherlands

Google's Nest Renew & OhmConnect To Form Virtual Power Plant In US

Tech giant Google has firmly set its sights on curbing carbon footprints and powering its date centres with renewable energy. To turn these goals into reality, Google has been on a PPA-signing spree with renewable energy firms. In the most recent news, the American firm has revealed that it has signed two PPAs in Belgium and the Netherlands to enable it to inch close to be carbon-free by 2030.

Google is set for the acquisition of 23.8MW of renewable energy from Luminus in Belgium. Luminus, which is among the largest energy suppliers in the Belgian market, will be responsible for providing four new-to-the-grid onshore wind projects in turn. Following this agreement, Google maintains that its data centres as well as offices in the country will be 80% carbon-free in 2024 (hourly-basis).

In the Netherlands, Google’s date centres will move towards being carbon-free by 20% in 2024 following a PPA with Eneco, from which it will purchase 153 MW of clean energy from near-shore, new-to-the-grid wind farms. Eneco has presence in Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.

In a quest to step-up the decarbonisation of its activities, Google has been forging several partnerships. It had signed a 150 MW PPA with Danish energy major Ørsted a few days ago for the purchase of renewable energy generated by Helena Wind Farm for the next 15 years. Previous to that, Google signed a pact with US solar energy firm Sol Systems to help power up its campuses in North and South Carolina with solar energy. In another similar development, Google had also signed a power purchase agreement with French utility company Engie for the supply of 100 MW of green energy produced in the Moray West offshore wind farm. The offshore facility is based in Scotland. The deal will help to power the UK operations of Google. SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, earlier signed an agreement with Google for the supply of about 900 MW of clean power from a solar power plant to the Texas data centre.