Google will buy around 75% of renewable energy produced by four solar projects SB Energy Global has under development, as the multinational looks to operate data centers on carbon-free energy by 2030.
The Orion 1-3 and Eiffel solar projects are expected to be operational by mid-2024, with a total capacity of 1.2GW.
The solar farms will primarily utilise US-made First Solar modules, which will be produced at First Solar’s Ohio manufacturing plant.
The PPA supports Google’s commitment to run its operations on carbon-free energy by 2030 by supporting the energy needs of the company’s data center in Midlothian, Texas and the cloud region in Dallas.
The agreement is Google’s largest combined clean energy transaction in Texas to date.
“Within the decade, we're aiming for every Google data center to operate on clean electricity every hour of every day. This goal requires us to continue to grow our carbon-free energy portfolio,” said Sana Ouji, energy lead at Google.
Founded in 2019, Softbank Group-backed SB Energy develops, owns and operates some of the largest renewable projects across the US. The company has 1.7GW of solar in operation, and another 8GW of solar and 14GWh of storage under development.