Sol Systems, a US-based solar energy startup, has collaborated with Google to invest in solar projects in the US. The two companies have collaborated to build an integrated clean energy investment and procurement strategy for Pine Gate Renewables’ solar projects in North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition to 18 MW of battery storage capacity, they will contribute the necessary financing to support the construction of solar energy projects with a total capacity of 225 MWdc.
Furthermore, the collaboration will focus on assisting local communities in the areas where the projects will be constructed. Roanoke Electric Cooperative in North Carolina will be offered initial funding, as will South Carolina’s Santee Electric Cooperative, Aiken Electric Cooperative and the Sustainability Institute of South Carolina. The projects will support Google’s goals to run totally on carbon-free energy by 2030 and will be developed in areas with low renewable energy penetration.
In November 2022, Google signed a 942 MW power purchase agreement with SB Energy Global to power its Midlothian, Texas, data centre as well as the Dallas Cloud area. The tech giant would purchase nearly 75 per cent of the electricity generated by four of SB Energy’s solar power plants that are currently under construction. The 1.2 GW combined capacity Orion I, II, III, and Eiffel solar projects, which are anticipated to go online by mid-2024, would provide the contracted energy.
REGlobal’s Views: Google is one of the largest corporate procurers of clean energy and is increasing the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to ultimately reach its goals of 100 per cent clean power by 2030 for its data centers. IT giants like Google have very high energy requirements to run their data centers, and thus, switching to renewable power is a more cost-effective option for them.
