Commercial, Distributed Generation, Sourcing Renewables  -  December 29, 2015

Google invests big in renewable energy for data centers

Google announced a major renewable energy deal Dec. 3, 2015, as part of the company’s goal to triple renewable energy purchases by 2025 and to power 100% of their operations with clean energy.

The agreements will add an additional 842 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to power Google’s data centers around the world, the company said in a blog post.The long-term contracts range from 10 to 20 years.

“For our part, these contracts not only help minimize the environmental impact of our services — they also make good business sense by ensuring good prices,” the company said.

In 2013, Google created a program that enables the company — and other large commercial energy consumers — to buy significant volumes of renewable energy directly from their utilities. This latest announcement includes the first solar project enrolled under that program.

In addition to fueling their own operations with renewable energy, Google has also made considerable investments in renewable energy projects with $2.5 billion worth funding directed to 22 large-scale projects around the world over the past five years.

“These investments have been in some of the largest and most transformative renewable energy projects in the world with a goal to help drive renewable energy development not only as a customer but as an investor, and bring down costs for everyone,” Google said.

Photo credit: turtix / Shutterstock.com

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