Adding another feather to its green cap, tech giant Google has now announced that it will invest 4.5 billion Danish crowns ($690 million) in building a renewable powered data center in Fredericia, located in western Denmark.

Google’s data centers are the home for a large group of servers that power its products like Search, Gmail, and YouTube.

Not only this, the Alphabet Inc subsidiary is also looking out for opportunities to invest in the country’s renewable sector and is currently evaluating a series of power purchase agreements for solar and wind (both onshore and offshore) projects.

The Fredericia data center will be among the most energy efficient data centers in Denmark to date, according to the company statement.

The Fredericia data center, which should be constructed by the end of 2021, will be Google’s fifth data center in Europe. Apart from this Google has data centers in Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

“We’ll look to continue investing in Europe, leading the way with green projects and building ties with the local community,” said the company.

Apart from Google, a host of multinationals have begun utilizing renewable energy sources to meet their electricity requirements in a sustainable manner.

A couple of months ago, Facebook released a statement that it will power all its facilities, including office and data centres, with 100 percent clean and renewable energy by 2020.

In July 2018, Walmart India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart Inc, said it is planning to incorporate sustainable sources such as solar energy, water harvesting, and recycling to run its stores in the country.

Earlier, Infosys, India’s software multinational giant, had announced that it has developed a total capacity of 46.1 MW of rooftop and ground-mounted solar projects across the country.

In March 2018, Microsoft announced the completion of its first renewable energy deal in India. Under the agreement, the company will purchase 3 MW of solar-power from Atria Power for its new office building in Karnataka’s capital city, Bengaluru. It will meet 80 percent of the projected electricity needs through this energy purchase.

All these companies are a member of RE100, a global initiative by companies committed to use 100 percent renewable energy.

Recently, Mercom reported that Amazon India, a global e-commerce giant, will set up 8,000 kW of rooftop solar installations by the end of this year at its fulfilment centers and sorting facilities across the country. This initiative in India is a part of Amazon’s global vision to power 50 of its fulfilment and sorting centers with solar energy by the end of 2020. It has already installed 1,600 kW of solar panels at its centers in Delhi and Hyderabad.

Image credit: Flickr

 

Ankita is an editor at MercomIndia.com where she writes and edits clean energy news stories and features. With years of experience in the news business, Ankita has a nose for news and an eye for detail. Prior to Mercom, Ankita was associated with The Times of India as a copy editor for the organization’s digital news desk. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Delhi University and a Postgraduate Diploma in journalism. More articles from Ankita Rajeshwari.