Google and EDP Renewables (EDPR) have announced a partnership to develop and install over 80 distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a total capacity of around 500 MW, in what has been described as the largest corporate sponsorship for distributed generation signed between two companies in the United States. The agreement also has the potential to become the biggest distributed generation deal closed by EDPR with a client to date.
The portfolio will cover six states in the US, with the first solar projects set to begin development in Ohio, where Google has a data center campus in New Albany and a Google Cloud region in Columbus. EDPR NA DG will be responsible for the development, construction, and operation of the solar PV parks, with the first projects expected to be operational by the end of 2024.
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Part of the portfolio will be funded by Google's acquisition of Impact Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), which will certify that Google has the rights to the environmental and social benefits of the renewable electricity produced by the solar projects. The partnership aims to democratize access to cleaner energy, making its benefits accessible to underserved communities and reducing electricity bills for about 25,000 low-to-moderate income families.
“We are pleased to sign this framework agreement that will allow us to develop a substantial number of renewable energy projects, while taking care of underserved communities,” said EDP chief executive Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade. “The much-needed transition to cleaner ways of producing and using energy must leave no one behind, and this partnership with Google allows us to do just that, by making electricity cleaner and more affordable to more families.”
This collaboration builds on the clean energy initiative that Google and EDPR started nearly two years ago, aiming to promote energy equity and reduce energy burden under an open book transaction model – the ImpactRec. The framework agreement marks a significant milestone for the partnership and sets a strong example for corporate sustainability efforts. As more and more companies seek to reduce their carbon footprint, collaborations like these show that it is possible to do so while also benefiting communities and driving social change.
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As Google continues to focus on its sustainability goals, this partnership serves as a critical step toward achieving its target of operating on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030. “Our collaboration with EDPR is an important milestone as we work to achieve our goal of operating on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030,” said Michael Terrell, Director of Energy at Google. “We hope that projects like these will accelerate the widespread adoption of renewable energy and move us closer to a carbon-free future.”
