Global funds giant Brookfield has signed a “first of its kind” deal with Microsoft to deliver 10.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity over four years, to help the tech giant achieve “100% of its electricity consumption, 100% of the time” matched by zero carbon energy purchases.
The deal spans from 2026 to 2030 and focuses on developing projects in the US and Europe, but leaves the door open to deliver additional renewables capacity in other parts of the globe, including Asia Pacific.
The companies say the focus for the more than 10GW of new energy generation capacity will not be on wind and solar alone, but also on unspecified “new or impactful carbon free” technologies.
Brookfield says the global framework agreement is almost almost eight times larger than the largest single corporate PPA ever signed, and provides an incentive for the funds giant to build a large portfolio of new renewable energy projects over the coming years.
“This first of its kind agreement … is a testament to our ability to reliably deliver clean power solutions at scale to our corporate partners and accelerate the energy transition,” said the CEO of Brookfield Renewable Connor Teskey.
For Microsoft, the deal delivers new renewable energy capacity to support the growing demand for cloud services.
Adrian Anderson, Microsoft’s general manager of renewables, carbon free energy, and carbon dioxide removal, says the tech behemoth also wants to use its influence and purchasing power to create “lasting positive impact” for all electricity consumers.
“This collaboration with Brookfield drives the innovative development of more diverse energy grids globally and contributes to delivering our goal of achieving 100% of our electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero carbon energy purchases by 2030,” Anderson said.
The huge deal follows last year’s failed bid by Brookfield for Australian gentailer Origin Energy, which has struggled to invest in enough firmed renewable energy capacity to replace its Eraring coal-fired power station in New South Wales, due to close August 2025.
In seeking regulatory approval for the Origin bid, Brookfield flagged plans to spend $30 billion to build 14GW of new renewable and storage capacity out to 2033.
It said this planned investment was 10GW more than what would be achieved by Origin without a change of ownership. It also said that it had an around 5GW project pipeline in Australia, but there was no guarantee any of this would be developed if the Origin bid failed.
