Tech giant reveals plans for two new US data centres to run on solar power
Google will purchase power from 1.6 million solar panels to power two new data centres in Alabama and Tennessee, under a multi-year deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority announced earlier this week.
The deal, covering 413MW of solar capacity, means the new data centres will be "matched" with 100 per cent renewable electricity from the beginning of their operations, Google said in a statement.
The two biggest solar farms will be able to produce 150MW each, among the largest ever to be built for Google.
The deal does not mean the data centres will be running on 100 per cent green power all the time, however. As Google pointed out in a data release last year, the company buys on an annual basis the same amount of megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy - both the physical energy and its corresponding renewable energy certificates (REC) - as it consumes for its operations around the world.
Google purchases additional renewable electricity when generation is high, ensuring that overall its carbon footprint from energy is cancelled out, it explained. But there are still times of the day when energy use does not match with 100 per cent carbon-free generation. This is usually during times when green power generation is at its lowest - at night time, for example.
Google said the new solar installations will mean about 72 per cent of its data centre electricity use in Alabama and Tennessee will be matched on an hourly basis with carbon-free sources, compared to the local electricity grid, which is 48 per cent low-carbon.