Google inks major new offshore wind deal

Google introduced its largest deal but to buy offshore wind vitality for its knowledge facilities in Europe, signing energy buy agreements to help two new wind farms off the coast of the Netherlands.

It’s a part of Google’s plan to match all of its knowledge heart electrical energy consumption with clear vitality technology on a 24/7 foundation by 2030. To try this, the corporate might want to assist get extra renewable vitality, together with offshore wind, pulsing by way of energy grids the place it operates. It shared “the following step” of that plan for Europe immediately, the place it says it’s including greater than 700 megawatts of fresh vitality capability to the grid.

A lot of that new capability will come from the pair of recent offshore wind farms within the Netherlands, the place Google operates two of its 24 knowledge facilities. The ability buy agreements are with the CrossWind and Ecowende consortia, that are joint ventures between vitality corporations Shell and Eneco.

Together with Google’s earlier energy buy agreements, the corporate says its Dutch knowledge facilities can hit 90 p.c clear vitality this 12 months. Google additionally introduced smaller offers to buy renewable vitality from onshore wind and photo voltaic farms in Italy, Poland, and Belgium.

Remember that Google’s plans are to match its electrical energy use with carbon-free vitality purchases. It’s not as if the information facilities themselves will run solely on renewable vitality, which makes up round 40 p.c of the Netherland’s electrical energy manufacturing.

When tech corporations say they run on renewable vitality, what they normally imply is that they’re paying for Renewable Power Certificates (RECs). A renewable vitality generator can promote RECs for each megawatt-hour of electrical energy {that a} wind farm generates. This income supply is meant to help the event of recent clear vitality initiatives.

However the recognition of RECs has led to a conundrum. Tumbling costs for RECs imply they usually don’t usher in sufficient cash to incentivize the event of new renewable vitality initiatives — which might defeat the aim in the event you aren’t including capability to the grid.

Google and different tech corporations together with Microsoft try to beat that downside by committing to buying carbon-free vitality domestically, hourly. Slightly than matching their electrical energy consumption with renewable vitality purchases on an annual foundation, they’re committing to paying for renewable vitality that’s generated close by on the similar time their techniques are working. This pushes the native energy grid to extend its capability for producing and storing clear vitality across the clock.

The offshore wind business, specifically, might actually use the help as rising prices have compelled builders to shutter initiatives in Europe and the US, the place Google has essentially the most knowledge facilities.