Commercial, Finance, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables, Wind - October 17, 2016
Google joins 3 other companies in wind PPA
Ever in pursuit of clean power, .
The company said in an Oct. 14 blog post that it partnered with AkzoNobel, DSM and Philips to make a long-term agreement to jointly source power from renewable energy projects. That commitment, Google said, allows it to contribute to delivering on the Dutch renewable energy target of 14% by 2020, agreed to in the 2013 Dutch Energy Agreement for Sustainable Growth.
"The consortium represents a new approach for corporations to explore market opportunities, enter into renewable Power Purchase Agreements ... and meet the demands of growing sustainability targets in a cost-effective and scalable way," Google Director of Global Infrastructure Francois Sterin wrote.
Through the consortium's first PPA, the companies have each agreed to purchase a quarter share of larger, 95% chunk of the generation output of a new wind farm in the dutch province of Zeeland, the company said. The wind farm there is being established by a co-operative of 4,000 people who will retain the remaining 5% of its output.
"It's the first time in the Netherlands that a group of multinational companies has teamed up with local citizens to create what is effectively a consumer-to-business energy partnership," Sterin wrote for Google.
The consortium has agreed to source a total of 0.35 terawatt-hours a year from the farm, called Windpark Krammer, once it becomes fully operational in 2019. Google said in its blog post that the agreement is both crucial for the funding of the wind farm and for the renewable energy goals of all four companies; Google plans to use the power for its new data center in the Netherlands.
Separately on Oct. 14, renewable energy developer OX2 announced that Google signed a 10-year PPA for a separate wind farm in northern Sweden. Aquila Capital, a large European asset manager, agreed buy the facility from OX2 with their investment is secured by the contract with Google, according to a news release from OX2.
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