Microsoft has entered into a long-term power purchase agreement with Engie to buy 230MW of wind and solar capacity in Texas.
Most of the output will come from the 200MW Las Lomas wind farm, to be located in Starr and Zapata Counties in south Texas, with 85MW coming from the 200MW Anson Solar Center park, which will be built in Jones County, central Texas.
Both projects are expected to come online in January 2021 and bring Microsoft’s renewables portfolio to over 1.9GW.
Engie chief executive Isabelle Kocher said: “We are delighted to establish a long-term partnership with a world renowned company like Microsoft.
“Our integrated approach to energy use is commended by such an important partnership.”
The PPA includes a ‘volume firming’ agreement that will convert the intermittent renewable energy supply into a fixed 24/7 power solution aligned with Microsoft’s energy needs.
In addition, Engie is implementing its Darwin software, currently deployed on more than 15,000MW of assets globally, using Microsoft Azure’s intelligent cloud services to optimise asset performance.
Darwin enables predictive maintenance, real-time meteorological data analysis, and real-time monitoring of the output of the assets.
“Procuring more renewable energy helps to transform our operations, but when we pair that with Microsoft’s leading cloud and artificial intelligence tools, we can transform the world,” said Carlo Purassanta, Microsoft president, France.
“This agreement with Engie is an exciting step towards a low-carbon future, driven by capital investments and enabled by data,” he added.