As it races to build ever larger data centers, Google on Tuesday said it has agreed to pay more than $3 billion to source carbon-free hydropower from Brookfield Asset Management’s company, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners.
The first contracts under the deal include 20-year power purchase agreements, the companies said, altogether amounting to $3 billion, for 670 megawatts of capacity from two hydropower plants in Pennsylvania. The deal is part of a broader framework agreement that will allow Google to source up to 3 gigawatts of capacity in total.
The deal comes as Google and its hyperscaler rivals, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, seek to source power for their seemingly ever-expanding data centers that they use to house, train, and host the AI tools that underpin the tech sector’s current boom.
This renewed demand for power has breathed new life into nuclear energy, boosted gas generation, and brought back focus on renewable energy. Google itself has committed tens of billions to making sure it won’t run out of power; Meta more or less bought a nuclear plant; and Microsoft has struck a deal to source power for 20 years from a nuclear plant next to another one that melted down nearly 50 years ago.
Power aside, renewable energy also presents an attractive opportunity for these companies to continue working towards their net-zero targets even as their burgeoning data centers add to their carbon emissions.
Brookfield Renewable Partners, which operates renewable energy plants in the U.S., said its two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania, Holtwood and Safe Harbor, will be relicensed, upgraded, or overhauled to meet the new requirements.
“This collaboration with Brookfield is a significant step forward, ensuring clean energy supply in the PJM region where we operate. Hydropower is a proven, low-cost technology, offering dependable, homegrown, carbon-free electricity that creates jobs and builds a stronger grid for all,” Amanda Peterson Corio, head of data center energy at Google, said in a statement.
