Google Signs 225 MW Wind Power Purchase Agreement With Invenergy

Internet giant Google has signed a 225 MW Power Purchase Agreement with Chicago-based renewable energy company Invenergy.

According to Invenergy, Google signed a 225 MW Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to acquire the electricity generated by the Bethel Wind Energy Facility located in Texas, US, for the company’s data center operations.

The PPA is part of the huge 842 MW renewable energy purchase Google announced back in December, 2015, at the COP21 conference in Paris. Google made six PPA agreements, with its PPA with Invenergy being the largest of the lot.

“We are thrilled to bring our innovation in energy to Google, a company famous for their innovation in technology,” said Invenergy’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing Craig Gordon. “Their commitment to using renewable energy sources to power their data centers represents a significant change in the way big corporations are thinking about sustainability and we are proud to be a part of those efforts.”

The electricity generated by the Bethel Wind Energy Facility will feed approximately 965,000 MWh of renewable electricity into the Southwest Power Pool, a regional electricity grid, to account for Google’s data center operations in the area.

Google described its renewable energy power purchase agreement as the “largest, and most diverse” ever made “by a non-utility company.” Google, like many other companies, is targeting a goal of powering 100% of its operations by renewable electricity, and is making good on its commitment. Of particular interest was the June announcement that Google would be investing in a new data center project making use of a soon-to-be retired coal power plant located in Jackson County, Alabama. According to Patrick Gammons, Google’s Senior Manager of Data Center Energy and Location Strategy,  via “an arrangement with Tennessee Valley Authority,” Google’s electric utility, “we’ll be able to scout new renewable energy projects and work with TVA to bring the power onto their electrical grid.”