Google has acquired a stake in Taiwan’s New Green Power (NGP) and plans to purchase up to 300 megawatts of renewable energy from the BlackRock-owned firm. This move aims to reduce Google’s carbon emissions and those of its suppliers, aligning with global green energy policies.
Google’s Renewable Energy Goals
Google is committed to running entirely on carbon-free energy. However, the demand for data-processing capacity, especially for artificial intelligence, has increased emissions. Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s Global Head of Data Center Energy, stated, “The goal of this investment is to support the build-out of a large-scale solar pipeline in Taiwan.”
Challenges in Decarbonizing Asia Pacific
Decarbonizing regions like Asia Pacific poses challenges due to less developed infrastructure and restrictions on corporate green power purchases. Taiwan relies on fossil fuels for nearly 85% of its power. Yet, the country is targeting 20 GW of solar capacity by 2025 and up to 80 GW by 2050, according to BlackRock.
New Green Power’s Role
New Green Power, a leading solar developer in Taiwan, is owned by a fund managed by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business. David Giordano, BlackRock’s Global Head of Climate Infrastructure, highlighted NGP’s significant role in Taiwan’s solar energy market.
While Google and BlackRock did not disclose the size of Google’s equity stake in NGP, Corio mentioned the investment would drive the equity and debt financing for the development of NGP’s 1 gigawatt (GW) solar pipeline.
Impact on Scope 3 Emissions
Google plans to use some of the purchased solar power for its operations and offer the rest to its suppliers and manufacturers in the region. This strategy will help Google lower its Scope 3 emissions, which are tied to its value chain.
Corio emphasized that sharing renewable energy with suppliers is crucial for Google’s broader sustainability goals. This collaboration between Google and NGP exemplifies the importance of strategic solar energy investments in achieving long-term environmental benefits and advancing solar technology developments.
Source：thehindu.com
