Microsoft Buys Wind Energy for Data Centers in Netherlands -- Update
May 23 2019 - 9:45AM
Dow Jones News
(Updates with Eneco comment)
By Dieter Holger
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has agreed to purchase wind power from
Netherlands-based Eneco to supply clean energy to its data centers
in Holland for 15 years starting in 2022.
The American tech giant will purchase 12% of the energy from the
731.5-megawatt offshore wind project Borssele III/IV, it said
Thursday. When reached for comment, an Eneco spokesman said the
company couldn't disclose the value of the deal with Microsoft.
Eneco owns the wind farm along with a consortium of other
companies including Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN). Shell and
Eneco have an agreement to each sell one half of the power the
project generates.
The deal is Microsoft's second purchase of wind energy in the
Netherlands in a year and its 14th such agreement overall, bringing
the company's green energy portfolio to above 1.5 gigawatts.
"Tech companies are facing the challenge to reduce their carbon
footprints, mostly due to the vast energy consumption of their data
centers," said Eneco's Hans Peters, chief customer officer at the
privately-owned Dutch company.
Data centers consumed around 1% of the world's electricity in
2017, according to the International Energy Agency, and although IP
traffic and workloads are expected to double, global data center
energy demand is set to stay flat thanks to improved
efficiency.
The tech industry has rapidly bought renewable power in response
to the expected growth. In 2015, information technology companies
accounted for more than half of renewable-power purchase
agreements, according to the IEA.
"Our purchasing of renewable energy helps improve the
sustainability of our operations and local grids," said Brian
Janous, general manager for energy and sustainability at
Microsoft.
Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@dowjones.com;
@dieterholger
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 23, 2019 10:30 ET (14:30 GMT)
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