Siemens Nordic wind park to supply clean power for Google data centres
Wed 6 Jul 2016
German engineering group Siemens has agreed to supply 50 onshore turbines for a 160 MW Norwegian wind park, which will sell its renewable energy output to Google for use in the search giant’s European data centre real estate.
Siemens noted in a press release that the Tellenes wind power plant, based in the county of Rogaland, south of Stavanger, will become one of the largest onshore wind farms in Norway. The project is expected to begin the construction phase over the next month, with completion expected for late 2017.
According to Siemens, the wind turbines will eventually generate clean power to meet the equivalent annual demand of around 30,000 Norwegian homes.
Under the terms of the agreement, Google will be buying the wind energy generated at the Tellenes site under a 12-year off-take contract to power its data centres in Europe. The arrangement has been facilitated by the Scandinavian Nord Pool market, which allows Google to buy renewable energy with ‘Guarantee of Origin’ certified in Norway, and consume the equivalent amount of power elsewhere in Europe.
Siemens, which will deliver its direct drive turbines SWT-3.2-113 for the Tellenes project, will also be responsible for operating and servicing the turbines under a long-term contract.
‘Technology companies such as Google are increasingly covering their rising energy demands with clean wind power… We are proud to be part of this development with our direct drive technology,’ commented Siemens Wind Power and Renewables CEO Thomas Richterich.
In a Google Green Blog in June, EU energy lead, Marc Oman, wrote of the company’s commitment to clean power: ‘We’ve known for a long time that reducing energy usage and using renewables makes good business sense…We’re pleased to play a part in stimulating the market for corporate renewable energy purchasing and doing our share in the effort to mitigate climate change.’
