AES to Build 500MW in Clean Power for Google’s Virginia Data Centers

Mark Chediak (Bloomberg) -- Google’s moving forward with its goal of becoming carbon-free by the end of the decade after AES Corp. agreed to supply the tech giant with renewable energy to power its data centers in Virginia.

AES, an international power plant developer, said the deal will result in the construction of 500 megawatts of solar, wind, small-scale hydroelectric and battery storage projects and supply will begin later this year, according to a statement Tuesday. AES and third-party developers will own the facilities.

The 10-year supply contract is the first-of-its-kind to provide 90% carbon-free electricity on an hourly basis, said AES CEO Andres Gluski. “This is really unique,” Gluski said.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., is among a number of tech companies including Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. that have pledged to reduce their carbon emissions by using more clean energy for power-hungry data centers. Last year, Google said that it wants to make sure all of the electricity it uses for its data centers and offices will be 100% renewable by 2030. AES and Google teamed up in 2019 to accelerate the use of green energy.