Google has announced its new Eemshaven datacenter will be 100% powered by renewable energy from its first day of operation.
Google says it has struck an agreement to buy all the output of a new Eneco wind farm currently under construction at Delfzijl, near Eemshaven in the Netherlands for the next decade.
“By entering into long-term agreements like this one with wind farm developers, we’ve been able to increase the amount of renewable energy we consume while helping enable the construction of new renewable energy facilities,” said Francois Sterin, Director of Google’s Global Infrastructure Team.
“This is the third such power purchase agreement (PPA) we’ve signed in Europe in the last 18 months – the other two were with wind farm developers in Sweden and will power our Hamina, Finland datacenter with renewable energy.”
Eneco’s new facility is an onshore-offshore project featuring 19 wind turbines. Eneco says the construction of the 62MW wind farm will provide employment for 80 people over the next 18 months. The facility is expected to be fully operational by the first half of 2016.
“Our agreement with Google is a further endorsement of the potential of wind power and our commitment to sustainable energy”, said Jeroen de Haas, CEO at Eneco. “We’re looking forward to working with Google over the next ten years to help them stay ahead of their commitment to carbon neutrality.”
The Enesco deal aside, Google has signed seven contracts for 1,040 MW of wind energy, which is enough to power over 300,000 U.S. households.
Google is striving to power its operations with 100% renewable energy. Currently, renewables make up 35% of the power it consumes and the company has funded over USD $1.5 billion in wind, solar power and other clean energy projects. These projects can generate over 2.5 GW, or enough electricity each year to power half a million U.S. homes.
A listing of Google’s renewable energy investments can be viewed here.
