Orsted has signed a 12-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google, covering 50MW of output from the planned 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.
Borkum Riffgrund 3 was the world’s first large-scale offshore wind farm to be awarded with a zero bid and is expected to go into full commercial operation in 2025.
The PPA with Google will contribute to providing revenue certainty for Orsted and help mature Borkum Riffgrund 3 towards a final investment decision, which is expected by the end of 2021, the developer said.
The PPA with Orsted will contribute to Google’s commitment of operating all its data centres, cloud regions and campuses on 24/7 carbon free energy by 2030.
Both companies are founding members of the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, a movement coordinated by Sustainable Energy for All and the United Nations.
The concept of 24/7 carbon free energy is where every kWh of power consumption is matched by carbon-free electricity production every hour, on the grid where the electricity is consumed.
The power from Borkum Riffgrund 3 will bring Google a step closer to delivering on its 24/7 commitment in Germany, Orsted said.
Rasmus Errboe, head of region Continental Europe at Orsted, said: “Orsted is continuously proving that we can support corporations across sectors and technologies with clean energy solutions.
“This CPPA demonstrates that offshore wind plays a critical role in enabling a 24/7 carbon-free energy solution in Europe.”
Amanda Peterson Corio, head of data centre energy development at Google, added: “We are delighted to partner with Orsted on this project that will help Google achieve its 24/7 carbon-free goal in Germany.
We share Orsted’s commitment for a carbon-free future and are optimistic about the important role offshore wind can play in enabling other entities to join the 24/7 carbon-free movement.”