Technology company Google has announced new measures in its transition to renewable energy technologies. It is expected to achieve up to 90 percent CO2-free energy in the Netherlands, Italy and Poland in the coming years. Belgium has to be content with “only” 85 percent. These milestones are intended to be achieved through several power purchase agreements (PPAs) concluded in the last six months. They need to generate more than 700 megawatts of clean energy, including the largest offshore wind project in the Netherlands.

Google’s Dutch data centers and offices will be powered by 90 percent renewable energy this year. To achieve this goal, Google is launching one of its largest offshore wind projects to date. The tech giant signed PPAs with Crosswind&Ecowende Consortia. These are joint ventures between energy companies Shell and Eneco to support 478 megawatts of carbon-free energy capacity with two new offshore wind farms: HKN V and HKW VI. These agreements support the development of these subsidy-free offshore wind farms, which are expected to account for around six percent of annual Dutch energy consumption.

CO2-free energy in Europe

Google’s ultimate goal is to use only carbon-free energy by 2030. To achieve this goal, various energy solutions are required. That’s why, in addition to the PPAs in the Netherlands, Google is also announcing additional efforts in Italy, Poland and Belgium. In our country, these are two PPAs that, according to Google’s own estimates, will help power its data centers and offices locally with 85 percent carbon-free energy (per hour) this year. “With these PPAs, we will help connect 11 new onshore wind farms developed by Asparavi and Luminus to the grid, with a total capacity of 84 megawatts,” Google said.

The technology giant sees the work as part of a larger whole. “These efforts are part of our commitment to accelerate the decarbonization of the world’s electricity systems. We continue to push boundaries, test new ideas and collaborate with others to transform the world’s energy sector. For example, we moved some non-urgent computer tasks to other times and locations to avoid putting more strain on the local power grid than necessary. The measures will not affect the Google services that people use every day,” Google concludes.