Google has inked several deals with four different power plants to purchase 536 megawatts of combined wind power as part of its efforts to fulfill its growing energy demands, as well as intensify its commitment to renewable energy. The wind power plants set to supply energy to Google, however, have not yet started their operations, with 196 megawatts of wind power being meant to come from two power plants currently being developed by Avangrid Incorporated in South Dakota. Additionally, Google has also signed separate contracts to procure 140 megawatts of energy from a wind power plant being built by Enel SpA in Oklahoma and 200 megawatts of wind energy from a wind power project being constructed by EDF Renewable Energy in Iowa, which is set to begin operating in December 2019.
Avangrid, meanwhile, will supply wind power to Google by using the energy generated from its sites in Coyote Ridge and Tatanka Ridge wind projects, with each power plant capable of producing 98 megawatts. Enel, on the other hand, will kick off operations for its 300-megawatt Red Dirt wind farm in Kingfisher and Logan counties in early 2018. No information regarding the length of Google’s new energy contracts have been revealed by the company which also didn’t disclose any financial details attached to the deals.
The new energy sources will complement Google’s other related efforts to meet its energy requirements in the future. Last July, Google said it would use Norwegian wind power to fuel at least one data center it operates in Europe starting in September of this year as part of a deal it signed with the Tellenes Wind Farm, with the wind power plant being expected to supply wind energy to Google’s data center over a period of 12 years. In addition to wind power, Google also relies on solar power and invests in this form of renewable energy. In 2014, for example, Google announced a $145 million investment into an 82-megawatt solar power plant built in Kern County, California. Simultaneously, Google’s parent company Alphabet is experimenting with new methods of storing renewable energy. Recently, Alphabet’s moonshot lab X created a technique to store a large amount of electricity generated by renewable energy sources in a relatively efficient manner.