Google signs its biggest offshore power agreement with wind farms in the Netherlands

Google signs its biggest offshore power agreement with wind farms in the Netherlands

LONDON: As part of its attempts to green its power supply and meet climate targets, technology giant Google said on Thursday that it has inked the largest-ever power purchase agreement (PPA) with offshore wind farms off the coast of the Netherlands. was informed.

Developers of renewable energy projects are tying their power production to long-term PPAs in order to guarantee profitability, while corporate purchasers are eager to secure a fixed supply and make sure they reach their clean power procurement goals.

Google has committed to sourcing 478 megawatts (MW) of electricity from two new wind farms created by Crosswind and Ecowende Consortia, a joint venture between energy giants Shell and Dutch utility Eneco, as part of its biggest offshore wind PPA to date.

Smaller renewable PPAs in Italy, Poland, and Belgium were also announced, but no financial information about the agreements was provided.

According to Matt Brittin, head of Google in EMEA, "our ambition to move to carbon-free energy around every minute by 2030 requires clean energy solutions throughout each grid where we operate."

Currently, many businesses with comparable objectives run on a yearly basis, aligning their annual power use with the acquisition of PPAs or renewable energy credits.

While Google aims to match every hour of power consumed with an hour of sustainable electricity generation, some proponents argue that this approach more accurately captures the energy use of businesses.