As part of its commitment to sustainability and clean energy, Google announced the biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history, made up of a 1,600-megawatt (MW) package of agreements and 18 new energy deals.
Together, these deals are expected to increase Google’s worldwide portfolio of wind and solar agreements by more than 40%, to 5,500 MW—equivalent to the capacity of a million solar rooftops, CEO Sundar Pichai explained.
Once all these projects come online, our carbon-free energy portfolio will produce more electricity than places like Washington D.C. or entire countries like Lithuania or Uruguay use each year.
The latest agreements will also spur the construction of more than $2 billion in new energy infrastructure, including millions of solar panels and hundreds of wind turbines spread across three continents.
These 18 new deals span the globe, and include investments in the US, Chile and Europe. One of the 18 new energy deals includes 92MW from Engie’s Norther offshore wind farm in the North sea off Belgium. Namely:
- In the US, the company will purchase energy from 720 MW of solar farms in North Carolina (155 MW), South Carolina (75 MW), and Texas (490 MW).
- In South America, the technology giant is adding 125 MW of renewable energy capacity to the grid that supplies data center in Chile.
- Finally, almost half (793 MW) of the new renewable energy capacity purchased will be located in Europe, specifically Finland (255 MW), Sweden (286 MW), Belgium (92 MW), and Denmark (160 MW).
In total, Google’s renewable energy fleet now stands at 52 projects, driving more than $7 billion in new construction. These are all part of the company’s work to tackle climate change at a global scale.
In this regard, the company also announced two new grants from Google.org to provide further support for organizations that expand access to clean energy for all businesses—from flower shops to big-box retailers to startups.
We’ll provide a $500,000 grant to Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) in the U.S. and a 500,000 euro grant to RE-Source in Europe. These grants will help fund the development of new purchasing models, provide training and resources for consumers, and enable more widespread access to clean power.