Google has announced several new renewable energy deal that will see power purchase agreements for more than 700MW.

As a result, over the next couple of years, operations are projected to reach more than 90 per cent carbon-free energy in The Netherlands, Italy and Poland, and close to 85 per cent in Belgium.

Dutch power purchase agreements (PPA) with Shell and with Eneco, owners of the Crosswind & Ecowende joint ventures, will support 478MW of capacity with two new-to-the-grid offshore wind farms: Hollandse Kust (noord) Wind Farm Zone, Site V and Hollandse Kust West (HKW) Site VI (HKN V and HKW VI). These agreements support the development of these subsidy-free offshore wind farms, which are expected to contribute to about six per cent of the country's annual electricity consumption.

In Italy, Google has entered its first long-term PPA to support an onshore wind energy project with 47MW of clean energy generation capacity with Italian energy company ERG, and two additional agreements in Poland for 106MW of solar generation capacity with GoldenPeaks Capital will add to the total.

In addition, two PPAs in Belgium will bring 11 new onshore wind farms, developed by Aspiravi and Luminus, to the grid for a total capacity of 84MWs.

Matt Brittin, president, Google Europe, Middle East and Africa said: “At a time when the world relies more and more on digital services, Cloud computing and AI technologies, it is more important than ever to provide access to technology efficiently and sustainably. That’s why we continue to invest in solutions that can accelerate the decarbonisation of electricity grids, and reduce the stress on local electricity grids by shifting work to other times and places, while maintaining the speed, safety and responsiveness you expect from Google.”

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