On September 11, Google announced to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) to buy electricity from three new wind farms in Finland with a combined capacity of 190 MW. The deal has been signed to buy renewable energy from three new wind farms built in Finland, which will power one of its data centers.
The deals have been agreed with renewable energy developers CPC, Neoen, and WPD and are for projects that will not benefit from government subsidies. Many companies have rushed in favor of cheap renewable energy to cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint through so-called corporate power purchase agreements, which enable firms like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft to buy from the energy generator.
Google said this is the first time it has purchased subsidy-free renewable energy in Europe, which shows that renewables are cost-competitive with grid power in increasing locations.
In Europe, this is the 14th PPA that Google has entered for almost 900 MW of wind and solar capacity. The three new wind farms in Finland will be added to the grid that feeds power to Google’s data center in Hamina.
Last year, we announced that Google had reached our 100 percent renewable energy purchasing goal. – Marc Oman, EU Energy Lead, Global Infrastructure, Google
Last year the technology company had reached its 100% renewable energy purchasing goal and now it announced to scale up as it needs to buy additional renewable energy to maintain this level.
The wind has become controversial with conventional power in many countries. Last year, the number of new corporate PPAs, precisely wind and solar, covered a new record with more than 5 gigawatts.
