Google will reach 100 per cent renewable energy in its global operations n 2017, the firm has stated.
In a blog post Urs Hölzle, Google’s senior vice president of technical infrastructure, said that the firm was already the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy and that in 2017 all of the firm’s offices and data centres would be powered by renewables.
Google’s renewable energy commitments now total 2.6 GW of solar and wind power. It says that using green energy made good business sense. “Over the last six years, the cost of wind and solar came down 60 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively, proving that renewables are increasingly becoming the lowest cost option,” wrote Hölzle.
Hölzle added: “Electricity costs are one of the largest components of our operating expenses at our data centers, and having a long-term stable cost of renewable power provides protection against price swings in energy.”
Google currently sources its energy from 20 renewable energy projects. Its purchasing commitments have brought infrastructure investments of more than $3.5 billion globally, it said.
The firm said that it would increasingly seek contracts with renewable energy generators located close to its operations. It also said it would broaden its energy purchases “to a variety of energy sources that can enable renewable power, every hour of every day”.
