The tech giant will invest capital in Taiwan’s clean energy capacity in exchange for the right to procure up to 300 MW of solar power.
On Monday, Google announced that it has teamed up with a Taiwanese renewable energy developer owned by finance giant BlackRock amid AI-driven power demand growth to drive solar energy development in Taiwan. The partnership aims to build a massive 1-gigawatt solar capacity pipeline, powering Google’s data centres and cloud regions in the region. This initiative comes amid rising demand for digital services, fueled by artificial intelligence, requiring sustainable energy solutions.
Google’s capital investment in new green power, a BlackRock-backed Taiwanese solar developer, will help expand clean energy on Taiwan’s electricity grid. Google’s commitment supports its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030, extending the benefits of renewable energy to its supply chain partners and local manufacturers.
Google plans to procure up to 300 megawatts of solar energy from this pipeline through power purchase agreements (PPAs) and the associated energy attribute certificates (Taiwan Renewable Energy Certificates or T-RECS) to help meet electricity demand from our data centre campus, cloud region and office operations in Taiwan.
According to David Giordano, BlackRock’s global head of climate infrastructure, the growth in demand for digital services powered by AI and data-centric technologies makes it imperative to invest in clean energy.
Google also states that Asia Pacific faces unique challenges with adding new carbon-free energy, including land constraints, low availability of commercially scalable wind and solar resources, and high construction costs.
