Irish solar producer Power Capital Renewable Energy (PCRE) has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google to provide clean electricity for its data centre and offices in Ireland. The 14-year supply arrangement covers part of the production from an 83MW solar farm under construction in County Wexford. PCRE will be responsible for providing Google with solar power production for a capacity of 58MW for the duration of the PPA. This deal will contribute to Google’s goal to match its operations with carbon-free energy on an hourly basis by adding new clean solar energy to the electricity grid.
The project, which successfully secured project financing earlier this year from AIB and La Banque Postale, is due to complete in early 2024. Power Capital will invest about €54m to construct the site and will connect into a 110kV substation which Power Capital is building specifically for the plant to connect into the transmission system operated by Eirgrid. Co-chief executives and founders of Power Capital Renewable Energy Justin Brown and Peter Duff said: “We are very active in the corporate power purchase market and the opportunity to partner with Google on a transaction like this is very significant milestone for us. “Understanding the requirements and aligning the interests of both companies to achieve the desired outcome has resulted in a further 83MW of solar energy being connected to the grid, reducing Ireland’s carbon emissions, and helping reach the 2030 targets.” Data center energy senior lead at Google Ainhoa Anda added: “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time, but we feel that technology can be part of the solution. “That’s a central motivation behind our goal to operate on carbon-free energy every hour of every day by 2030. “We’re excited to collaborate with Power Capital Renewable Energy for our first long-term renewable energy deal in Ireland because deals like these take us one step closer to a carbon-free future by helping to add new clean energy sources to Ireland’s grid.”
Credits: renews.biz [Image:PCRE]