Equinix signs solar power deal to power California data centres
Thu 24 Sep 2015
Global data centre giant Equinix has announced that it will be partnering with renewable energy experts SunEdison under a power purchase agreement for 105 megawatts of new solar power.
The agreement is expected to cover Equinix’s Californian business, including its Redwood City headquarters and 11 data centre sites across the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley metro areas. Under the new solar deployment deal, the company hopes to increase its worldwide data centre use of green energy supply from 30% to 43%.
The Mount Signal Solar II project will involve the construction of a 150 MWAC capacity solar farm in Calexico, California – in the territory of San Diego Gas & Electric. The build is expected to begin this year, with a commercial launch planned for the second half of 2016.
Equinix suggests that the solar project will generate around 300,000 MWh annually, which will offset its yearly electrical consumption. The partnership will help reduce the company’s carbon footprint by more than 180mn lbs of CO2 every year.
Through the project Equinix will also receive Green-e certified renewable energy certificates awarded by SunEdison to help cover the 12-month period between the start of construction to project completion.
Earlier this year, Equinix spoke of its commitment to green projects, promising to work towards completely renewable energy sources for its global footprint of 105 data centres across 33 different markets.
A recent renewable project in Singapore saw the company deploy a 342 kWp PV solar system at its SG3 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre. In California, Equinix is also planning on installing a 1MW fuel cell system fuelled entirely by bio-gas, at its SV5 centre in Silicon Valley.
The data centre specialist announced yesterday that it would be signing on to the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Corporate Renewable Energy Buyer’s Principles initiative, with which advocate for easier access to renewable energies for business.
On the push to increase its green credentials, Equinix Americas president Karl Strohmeyer commented: “Equinix’s purpose is to power the digital economy and we believe that it is important to do this in an environmentally sustainable way. This PPA is a major milestone in achieving our long-term goal of reaching 100 percent renewable power and it solidifies Equinix’s position as a global data center leader in sustainability.”
