SB Energy to Sell Power to Google from its 1.2 GW Solar Projects in Texas

The solar projects will primarily utilize U.S.-made First Solar modules

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Renewable energy developer SB Energy Global said that Google will buy approximately 75% (942 MW) of the clean energy produced by the company’s four Texas-based upcoming solar projects with a combined capacity of 1.2 GW.

The four projects – Orion 1-3 and Eiffel – are likely to be operational by mid-2024.

SB Energy, a subsidiary of the SoftBank Group, said that the power purchase agreement with Google was the largest combined clean energy transaction in Texas to date for the internet giant.

The renewable energy producer currently owns and operates 1.7 GW of solar capacity. The company said that the construction of an additional 1.3 GW would begin by early 2023.

SB Energy’s co-CEO Rich Hossfeld said, “We are thrilled to join forces with Google to provide clean energy to match Google’s Texas data center consumption..”

Energy Lead at Google Sana Ouji observed, “Within the decade, we’re aiming for every Google data center to operate on clean electricity every hour of every day. We’re excited to partner with SB Energy to bring online four solar projects that will meaningfully grow our portfolio of renewable energy projects in the region and bring additional clean energy jobs to Texas.”

The four solar projects will primarily utilize U.S.-made First Solar modules, which will be produced at the manufacturer’s Ohio plant.

In March this year, SB Energy said it had placed a multi-year order for 1.5 GW of First Solar’s thin-film solar modules, which the former would deploy across its 4 GW solar and storage pipeline in the United States.

Previously, ENGIE and Google inked a three-year, 24/7, carbon-free energy supply agreement to supply to Google’s German operations. Under the agreement, ENGIE will supply Google with solar and wind power to ensure its German operations are nearly 80% carbon-free by 2022. Altogether, ENGIE will supply Google with 140 MW of renewable electricity.

In 2020 Google set a goal to address its scope 2 emissions by operating its data centers and office campuses on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. From 2010 to 2021, Google signed more than 60 power purchase agreements for over 7 GW of renewable energy. As of 2021, the company has committed about $6 billion to purchase clean energy from wind and solar projects globally through 2040.

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