By Amanda Peterson Corio
Google has set a bold goal to achieve net-zero emissions across all its operations and value chain by 2030, supported by the ambition to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where it has a presence. Reaching these goals is challenging and requires both commercial efforts and broader energy systems change, including creating new clean energy opportunities in regions that are early in their decarbonization journeys and have electricity grids undersupplied with carbon-free energy.
Today, Google announced a partnership with BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business to support the development of a 1 gigawatt (GW) pipeline of new solar capacity in Taiwan. This partnership aims to advance clean energy on the local electricity grid and contribute to Google’s 24/7 carbon-free goal.
As part of the partnership, Google is making a capital investment in New Green Power (NGP), a Taiwanese solar developer and BlackRock portfolio company, to facilitate the buildout of its large-scale solar pipeline.
A Unique Partnership to Catalyze Solar Energy
Many countries in the Asia Pacific face unique challenges in adding new carbon-free energy, including land constraints, low availability of commercially scalable wind and solar resources, and high construction costs. Consequently, fossil fuels, including imported coal and natural gas, generate nearly 85% of Taiwan’s electricity.
To help overcome these obstacles, companies can play a pivotal role in finding new strategies to grow the supply of available renewable energy sources and promoting emerging technologies that enable the full decarbonization of regional electricity systems.
Google’s investment in NGP, subject to regulatory approval, will serve as development capital toward its 1 GW pipeline of new solar projects, catalyzing critical equity and debt financing for these projects.
Google expects to procure up to 300 MW of solar energy from this pipeline through power purchase agreements (PPAs) and the associated energy attribute certificates (Taiwan Renewable Energy Certificates or T-RECs) to help meet electricity demand from its data center campus, cloud region, and office operations in Taiwan.
Taking it a step further, Google may offer a portion of this clean energy capacity to its semiconductor suppliers and manufacturers in the region to help them advance their own sustainability goals while aiding Google in reducing its Scope 3 emissions (the indirect emissions from its value chain).
A significant share of Google’s Scope 3 footprint can be traced back to the electricity grids that power its suppliers and users, which is why broad decarbonization—and partnerships like this—continue to be core to Google’s net-zero goal.
BlackRock’s Global Head of Climate Infrastructure, David Giordano, commented, “As we witness growth in demand for digital services, powered by AI and data-centric technologies, it becomes imperative to invest in clean energy. The partnership is a testament to the shared commitment between Google and BlackRock to driving the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
Unlocking Decarbonization Opportunities Across Asia Pacific
The partnership builds on more than five years of collaboration to accelerate the clean energy transition through market and policy development across Asia Pacific. Google’s advocacy and engagement efforts were a key driver of the 2017 amendment of Taiwan’s Electricity Act, which opened up the market to allow non-utility companies to directly purchase renewable energy.
This work led to Google becoming the first corporate buyer to sign a PPA in the market. Since then, Taiwan has achieved a significant cumulative contracted capacity through corporate PPAs, becoming one of the leading corporate PPA markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
Continued progress on Google’s carbon-free energy goal is happening across Asia Pacific with recent announcements in Australia and Japan. In parallel, Google is working with partners to support policies that accelerate the decarbonization of electricity grids.
Google is a founding member of the Asia Clean Energy Coalition (ACEC), which brings together energy buyers, suppliers, and policymakers to help improve the policy and regulatory environment for corporate renewable electricity purchasing. Coalitions like ACEC are essential to drive the system-level transformation required for a carbon-free future in Asia Pacific.
This partnership marks an important milestone in Google’s net-zero and carbon-free journey, with much more work to be done both in Asia Pacific and around the world. To learn more about Google’s sustainability efforts, visit sustainability.google.
Amanda Peterson Corio is global head of data center energy, Google