Three new wind power supply deals have pushed Google Inc.'s total renewable energy purchases over 3,000 MW as the Alphabet Inc. subsidiary strives to meet its goal of acquiring enough renewable energy to fully offset the energy consumption of its global operations in 2017, the company announced Nov. 30. The three new contracts, however, do not affect its 2017 power mix, as they are for projects scheduled to come online after this year.
The trio of deals, each announced by Google's suppliers on Nov. 30, include two 98-MW wind farms in South Dakota expected to be in full construction in 2019, a 200-MW wind farm in Iowa expected to come online in 2019 and a 140-MW project in Oklahoma that is anticipated to be energized in January 2018.
In its latest environmental report, released in October, the Silicon Valley tech giant forecast it would achieve 100% renewable energy this year, based on signed contracts for projects scheduled to come online in 2017. "While we'll still be drawing power from the grid, some of which will be from fossil fuel resources, we'll purchase enough wind and solar energy to account for every megawatt-hour of electricity our data center and office operations consume annually," Google said.
Google still maintains it will reach its all-green energy target in 2017, based on previously contracted projects. The new agreements are "in line with and incremental to" the company's goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by the end of 2017, said a Google spokeswoman. "Since calendar-year 2017 isn't quite finished and we can't do our formal energy accounting until the year has ended, we don't expect to formally 'affirm achievement' of the 100% until early next year."
With over 3,000 MW of renewable generation under contract, Google is the world's largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. In addition, it has invested nearly $2.5 billion in large-scale renewable energy projects and residential solar rooftop funds since 2010, combining for roughly 3,700 MW.
In a 2016 white paper, Google said reaching its 100% renewable energy goal was "just the beginning." The company's "ultimate goal," it said, is around-the-clock clean energy. As examples of options it is considering "to address the variability associated with renewables," the company pointed to utility-scale energy storage, advanced nuclear power, geothermal energy, low-impact hydropower, demand response and energy efficiency measures.
