INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Google today announced its largest package of renewable energy deals yet
Worth a total of 1,600-megawatts, the package includes 18 deals in the United States , Chile and Europe
This brings Google current set of wind and solar agreements to about 5,500 megawatts (MW) and the company number of total renewables
projects it involved in to 52
Google argues that these new projects it announced today will drive about $2 billion in investments in new energy infrastructure.
In the
United States , Google says it&ll purchase a total of 720 MW from solar farms in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas
In Chile, it buying an additional 125 MW to power its data center there
For reasons only known to Google PR, the company will only announce details of its plans for Europe tomorrow, at an event in Finland, where
Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be present.
In today announcement, Pichai notes that many of Google earlier investments were in wind energy
Its new investments in the United States are mostly in solar, though
The reason for that, he notes, is the declining cost of solar
In Chile, the company is investing in a hybrid solar and wind deal for the first time
&Because the wind often blows at different times than the sun shines, pairing them will allow us to match our Chilean data center with
carbon-free electricity for a larger portion of each day,& Pichai writes.
Google announcements follow Amazon pledge to run its business on
100% renewable energy by 2030 and buy 100,000 electric vans.
