Both Google and Microsoft have invested in huge renewable energy contracts to power their data centers.
according to log (Opens in a new tab)Google has signed a 12-year 100MW corporate power purchase agreement with a Scottish offshore wind development company called Moray West, in the relatively remote Moray Firth in Scotland.
The joint venture is owned by EDP Renewables and France’s Engie, and will see the search giant acquire 5 TWh of green energy from its 882 MW offshore wind farm, starting in 2025, which will be used to power the Google Cloud UK region.
What about Microsoft?
Likewise, Microsoft signed its Power Purchase Agreement (PPAs) in Ireland covering more than 900 megawatts of new renewable electricity, leading to the announcement. European Cloud Features Blog (Opens in a new tab).
Some sources for it Shown (Opens in a new tab) This will include a deal with Norwegian company Statkraft and Irish company Energia Group, Power Capital Renewable Energy, which will see the tech giant acquire more than 366 megawatts of clean energy in the new deal.
Why do they invest?
Both companies have lofty sustainability goals to meet on the horizon. The type of hyperscale data centers that the two companies dominate, along with Amazon Web Services (AWS), has an enormous environmental footprint.
According to independent research by the International Energy Agency, data centers take up a lot 1% of the total electricity consumed globally.
By 2025, Microsoft aims to transition to a 100% renewable energy supply, and by 2030 Microsoft aims to offset 100% of its electricity consumption with zero-carbon energy purchases.
Matt Britten, head of Google EMEA, said his company is aiming to “go completely on carbon-neutral energy by 2030” and that “in the UK, we will be on or close to 90 percent carbon-neutral in 2025”.
Google said the latest agreement will mean the UK’s cloud region will only join six other regions — including Finland, Iowa, Montreal, Spain and Toronto — that will run at or close to 90 percent carbon-neutral energy from 2025. onwards.
