Renewables

A pretty big deal: Microsoft and Brookfield to develop 10.5 GW of renewables in ‘largest ever’ corporate PPA

The agreement includes more than 10.5 GW of wind, solar, and “new or impactful carbon-free energy generation technologies.”
A pretty big deal: Microsoft and Brookfield to develop 10.5 GW of renewables in ‘largest ever’ corporate PPA
A Microsoft data center in Wyoming (Credit: Microsoft)

Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and Microsoft have announced the signing of a global renewable energy framework agreement outlining plans to develop more than 10.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity. This agreement is almost eight times larger than the biggest single corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) ever signed.

The agreement is meant to contribute to Microsoft’s goal of having 100% of its electricity consumption matched by zero-carbon energy purchases by 2030, with the demand for cloud services growing. Having contracted almost one GW of renewable capacity to date outside of the agreement, the agreement builds on the existing collaboration, the companies said.

The agreement will not only focus on wind and solar but also “new or impactful carbon-free energy generation technologies,” which were not expanded upon by the companies.

According to the Financial Times, which first broke the news, the new capacity could cost an estimated $10 billion. Per BNEF tracked data and the Financial Times, the largest PPA signed between two separate independent parties is 1.3 GW, between mining company Rio Tinto and an Australian solar farm.

The companies say the agreement provides a pathway for Brookfield to deliver over 10.5 GW of new renewable energy capacity between 2026 and 2030 in the U.S. and Europe. The agreement includes the potential to increase its scope to deliver additional renewable energy capacity within the U.S. and Europe, and beyond to Asia-Pacific, India, and Latin America, and the companies say it provides an incentive for Brookfield to build a large portfolio of new renewable energy projects over the coming years.

“As the global trend of digitalization and the adoption of AI continues to drive growth in demand for electricity, we are thrilled to collaborate with Microsoft to support their customer demand with the build-out of over 10.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity,” said Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable and President of Brookfield Asset Management. “This first-of-its-kind agreement, which is almost eight times larger than the largest single corporate PPA ever signed, is a testament to our ability to reliably deliver clean power solutions at scale to our corporate partners and accelerate the energy transition.”

Originally published in Renewable Energy World.

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