Google Buys 236MW Of Wind Energy From Sweden and Norway

Google has bought the entire output of two new wind farms under construction in Sweden and Norway as the search giant continues its push to be powered by one hundred percent renewable energy.

A 50 turbine project near Stavanger in Norway will be completed by late 2017 and a 22 turbine project near Mariestad and Töreboda will be ready by 2018, totalling 236MW of energy

The deals mean Google now has seven agreements in Europe, including four in Sweden, amounting to 500MW that can be used to deliver its services to European customers more cleanly. Globally, Google has 18 such deals totalling 2.5 Gigawatts.

Google renewable energy

“We’ve known for a long time that reducing energy usage and using renewables makes good business sense – we signed our first major power purchase agreement for 114 MW of Iowa wind in 2010,” said Marc Oman, EU energy lead at Google Global Infrastructure.

“Others are discovering the benefits of renewables too – in the US alone, companies bought almost 3.5 GW of renewable energy last year. We’re pleased to have played a part in stimulating the market for corporate renewable energy purchasing and doing our share in the effort to mitigate climate change.”

Google has also invested in solar farms in a bid to be powered by 100 percent renewables, but it is also building a $600 million data centre in Alabama that will be powered by coal. However Greenpeace has noted Google’s efforts into creating a ‘green cloud’, leading other vendors like Microsoft and Amazon.

Earlier this week a Green Grid report claimed that there were not enough conversations at a board room level about how businesses can make their data centres as environmentally friendly as possible.

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