Tech giant Microsoft announces massive purchase of solar power in Virginia

Microsoft describes deal as "the single largest corporate purchase of solar energy ever in the United States."Latest announcement follows two renewable energy deals in Singapore and India.

Microsoft is to purchase 315 megawatts (MW) of energy from two new solar facilities in Virginia, it said Wednesday.

The tech giant will buy energy from the Pleinmont I and II sites in what it described as "the single largest corporate purchase of solar energy ever in the United States."

The Pleinmont developments are part of a bigger 500 MW project owned and operated by sPower, an AES and AIMCo business. When operational, Pleinmont I and II will have over 750,000 solar panels covering more than 2,000 acres.

"This project is our second solar agreement in Virginia and allows our Virginia data centers to be powered fully by solar energy," Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, said in a statement Wednesday.

Microsoft's total of directly purchased renewable energy now stands at around 1.2 gigawatts (GW). This, Smith said, was enough power to light 100 million LED bulbs.

More than 10 GW of new solar photovoltaic capacity were installed in the U.S. in 2017, according to a recent report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association. Photovoltaic refers to a way of directly converting light from the sun into electricity.

Virginia's governor, Ralph Norman, welcomed Wednesday's news. "When companies like Microsoft invest in Virginia solar, they opt for clean and reliable energy as well as new jobs in the energy economy we are working hard to build," he said.

Microsoft's latest announcement follows recent renewable energy deals in Asia. At the beginning of March, the company agreed to buy all the renewable energy output from a 60 MW solar project in Singapore, its first clean energy deal in Asia. A few days later, it announced it had entered into an agreement to purchase 3 MW of solar-powered electricity in India.

Microsoft to buy solar power in Singapore in first renewable deal in Asia

Singapore: Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it will buy solar power from the Sunseap Group in Singapore, the technology company’s first renewable energy deal in Asia.

Microsoft will purchase 100% of the electricity generated from Sunseap’s 60 megawatt-peak solar power project for 20 years for its Singapore data operations, the software company said in a statement. Sunseap’s project consists of an array of solar panels on hundreds of rooftops across the city-state.

“This deal is Microsoft’s first renewable energy deal in Asia, and is our third international clean energy announcement, following two wind deals announced in Ireland and the Netherlands in 2017,” said Christian Belady, general manager, cloud infrastructure strategy and architecture at Microsoft.

Microsoft said it is on track to exceed its goal of powering 50% of its global data centre load with renewable energy this year.

“Once operational, the new solar project will bring Microsoft’s total global direct procurement in renewable energy projects to 860 megawatts,” Belady said.

The solar project is under construction and will be operational by the end of the year, the companies said.

Microsoft Makes Largest Wind Energy Investment (MSFT)

Microsoft Makes Largest Wind Energy Investment (MSFT)

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) announced on Monday that it has inked two agreements that translate to its largest deal for renewable wind energy, aimed at powering the massive collection of datacenters it has in the U.S.

On Monday, the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant said it signed a deal with insurance organization Allianz Risk Transfer to buy energy from a new 178-megawatt Bloom Wind project located in Kansas. In a statement, Microsoft explains that the deal "fixes" its contracted energy costs over a long-term agreement. The second deal is a long-term contract with Black Hills Energy to buy 59 megawatts of energy "certificates" related to two wind projects near Microsoft's Cheyenne, Wyo., datacenter site. (See also: Top 5 Wind-Power Stocks of 2016.)

Both contracts amount to 237 megawatts of generating capacity, which brings Microsoft's U.S.-based wind power total to more than 500 megawatts. The megawatt (or 1,000 kilowatts) is a standard measurement of electricity production. According to the company, the combined output of both sites should produce enough energy annually to supply Microsoft's Cheyenne facility with all the energy it needs.

"Microsoft is committed to building a responsible cloud, and these agreements represent progress toward our goal of improving the energy mix at our datacenters," said Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer in a statement. "Our commitment extends beyond greening our own operations because these projects help create a greener, more reliable grid in the communities in which we operate." (See also: Amazon Announces Its Largest-Ever Renewable Energy Project.)

For Microsoft, these two contracts follow two other agreements the company has made to further its efforts in renewable and carbon-free energy. Earlier this year, the company reached an agreement with the 175-megawatt Pilot Hill wind project in Illinois and the 110-megawatt Keechi wind project in Texas. It also reached an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia and Dominion Energy in March.

Microsoft shares closed Monday at $58.12, down 1.52%. The shares have risen 4.76% year to date, compared with a 5.76% rise in the S&P 500 (SPX