Google HQ to go 100% renewable via San Francisco wind farm

Google has become the second US-based tech giant in just one week to announce a major renewable energy  commercial offtake agreement, with a deal to buy power from a revamped NextEra wind farm in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Just two days ago, Apple grabbed headlines with its plans to team with First Solar and build an $848 million, 130MW solar array in Monterrey, California, which it would use to power operations in its home state.

The Google-NextEra deal, announced on Wednesday, means the search engine giant will purchase the wind power generated by turbines owned by America’s largest wind-power operator – but not before NextEra replaces the 370 old 1980s turbines with 24 larger, newer models.

The upgrade of NextEra’s Altamont Pass wind farm is the result of a 2010 agreement that ended a legal battle with environmental groups over birds that were killed by the smaller equipment.

Bloomberg reports that the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, east of San Francisco, is home to some of the world’s first commercial wind power, and most of the approximately 4,000 turbines are more than 30 years old.

NextEra’s director of business development, Anthony Pedroni, told the San Jose Mercury that while the project would probably have gone ahead without Google, “Google was the first one to make the commitment. They stepped up and said they’d be the customer for this.”

The new turbines will have a combined capacity of 43MW and are expected to begin operating in 2016, Google said in a statement on its blog. Financial terms were not disclosed.

According to a Google company blog, the 20-year deal means the company can purchase enough local wind energy to offset the annual electricity needs of its Mountain View headquarters.

Google currently powers about 35 percent of its operations with renewable energy, according to its website.

And in a statement made to the San Jose Mercury, Google energy analyst Sam Arons showed that, like Apple, his company was comfortable talking about climate change.

“Not only do we think renewable energy is important from a climate change perspective, it also makes business sense,” he said.