Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Increase their Use of Renewable Energy in their Data Centers

Both announce green power purchase agreements for the UK and Irish DCs as Europeans worry over the power supply.

FREMONT, CA:To reduce the carbon footprint of their IT operations, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) have disclosed new partnerships for access to renewable energy sources for their data centres. The world's largest search engine Google announced that it had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with French utility Engie to purchase 100 MW of energy from the Moray West offshore wind farm to power its UK facilities.

Microsoft, meanwhile, made public PPAs in Ireland that cover more than 900MW of brand-new renewable electricity capacity to power its data centres there. Microsoft did not identify the providers for its renewable energy contracts, but other sources have named two of them as Statkraft of Norway and Energia Group of Ireland. The energy is derived from a combination of wind and solar projects.

The Redmond powerhouse predicted that by 2025, all of the energy used in its Irish data centres would be renewable and sourced from new initiatives backed by PPAs like these. In addition, Google asserted that its new agreements will help it reach its 2030 objective of fully running its UK headquarters and cloud regions on carbon-free energy sources. It stated that with the most recent PPA signed with Engie, it already anticipates being at or close to 90 per cent carbon-free by that time.

Concerns over climate change and energy security are growing among individuals in the UK and Europe.

The action follows past agreements by both businesses to purchase US renewable energy. While Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with AES Corporation earlier this year to supply renewable energy to its data centres in California from a portfolio of 110MW solar and 55MW four-hour storage projects, Google signed a deal with SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy for 900MW of solar power for a data centre in Texas.

Although these initiatives have admirable goals, they won't necessarily reduce the carbon footprint of these megacorps, particularly if they are growing more quickly than they are acquiring carbon credits or making investments in renewable energy.

For instance, Microsoft acknowledged in its annual sustainability report for 2021 that although its CO₂ emissions had decreased by around 17 per cent year over year, its carbon footprint had increased due to considerable expansion during the same period.

Microsoft stated that in addition to growing its data centres to accommodate client demand, it has also increased its commitment to cutting carbon emissions and assisting in the bigger climate change challenges.