US renewables company Invenergy is to supply electricity to Microsoft from the 74MW Wilkinson solar farm in North Carolina under a 15-year power purchase agreement.
Microsoft will source all the power from the project, which will built, owned and operated by Invenergy.
Wilkinson will be located in Beaufort County and is scheduled to come online later this year.
About 500 jobs will be created during construction.
The project is also expected to generate $20m in local economic investment through tax and land owner lease payments, as well as wages and benefits for employees.
The PPA is Microsoft’s fourth in the PJM Interconnection region of the US and brings the company’s total renewable energy portfolio to 1.3GW.
Microsoft general manager of energy and sustainability Brian Janous said: “When we invest in renewable energy, we are investing in the future – enabling sustainable growth of our business, of the clean energy sector and the local communities that benefit economically from Microsoft’s commitment to sustainability.
“Our work with companies like Invenergy is an integral step toward our goal of enabling a clean energy future for everyone. We are pleased our partnership will bring new solar resources to the PJM region.”
Invenergy chief commercial officer Jim Shield said: “Invenergy is proud to work with leading corporate renewables customers like Microsoft to help them meet their operational and sustainability goals.
“This investment in North Carolina reflects the increasingly compelling value of solar power for customers to meet their energy needs, while also creating economic development opportunities for local communities.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft has also revealed that it executed the two 15-year PPAs EDP Renewables announced in July last year for 125MW of power from the Timber Road 4 wind farm in Ohio.