Google Purchases 236 MW Of Wind Energy For Its European Operations
Google has announced that it has purchased 236 MW of renewable energy from two new wind farms set to be constructed in Norway and Sweden.
Announced on its Green Blog late-June, Google’s Marc Oman, EU Energy Lead, Google Global Infrastructure, announced that the company was continuing to work towards ensuring all its operations were running 100% on renewable energy by purchasing 236 MW of energy from two new wind farms being developed in Norway and Sweden. This purchase falls on top of an existing 842 MW that Google acquired at the end of 2015 to power its operations — the “largest and most diverse” purchase of renewable energy projects “by a non-utility company” ever.
The new Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) brings Google’s European total up to seven, totaling more than 500 MW. This accounts for a fifth of Google’s total global PPAs, with nearly 2.5 GW purchased worldwide.
Google is buying the complete output of both new wind farms, as is its historical method. In Norway, a 50-turbine 160 MW wind farm is being developed in Rogaland south of Stavanger in Norway. Siemens announced on Monday that it would be supplying the wind turbines to the project — 50 of its SWT-3.2-113 turbines, boasting a rotor diameter of 113 meters — which is expected to be completed late-2017.
“Technology companies such as Google are increasingly covering their rising energy demands with clean wind power,” said Thomas Richterich, CEO Onshore of Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division. “We are proud to be part of this development with our direct drive technology. Tellenes will also be one of the largest onshore wind projects in Norway.” Siemens will deliver its direct drive turbine SWT-3.2-113 for the Tellenes project. Construction will start in July 2016, and the project is expected to be fully operational in late 2017.
The second wind farm is a 22-turbine 76 MW farm being developed in Sweden, near Mariestad and Töreboda, and which is expected to reach completion and begin operation in early 2018.
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