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Google has reached a $3 billion deal to access hydroelectricity from Brookfield’s renewable energy sector. This is part of the race to ensure clean energy to meet booming electricity demand from cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
The two largest 20-year power purchase agreements for hydroelectric power will first provide a total of 670 megawatts of electricity from Holtwood in Brookfield and the Safe Harbor facility in Pennsylvania.
Google has the option to source electricity from a total of 3 gigawatts worth of hydro power assets through future projects, including upgrading the installation of the Hydro. Power from these facilities that the tech giants don’t need is poured into the US electricity market.
The deal is part of an effort to “responsibly grow the digital infrastructure that promotes the daily lives of people, communities and businesses.”
Technology companies are rushing to meet the intense energy demands of AI, whilst alleviating concerns about the environmental impact of technology.
Datacenter developers have previously struck similar transactions to wind and solar farm funding, but the focus on hydropower reflects political and regulatory changes to “solid” sources of renewable energy that provide consistent power sources regardless of time or time.
In June, social media group Meta agreed to purchase production from Illinois nuclear power plants for 20 years.
President Donald Trump’s so-called large fiscal bill, passed this month, maintained the hydroelectric production and investment tax credit until 2036. Wind and Sun projects should not lose these credits or start construction within the next 12 months unless they are in work by the end of 2027.
By 2030, the United States will consume more energy from processing data than manufacturing a combination of aluminum, steel, cement and chemicals, according to data from the International Energy Agency.
Globally, data centers could consume 945 terawatts of electricity by 2030, the IEA said.
“The partnership with Google demonstrates the key role Hydropower can play in helping Hyperscale (data center) customers achieve their energy goals,” said Connertesky, president of Brookfield Asset Management.
“Powering power on a large scale and from a variety of sources is necessary to meet the increased demand for electricity due to digitalization and artificial intelligence,” he said.
In response to booming data center demand, customer supporters have raised concerns about the impact of inflated demand on household prices.
Industry figures are pushing direct power purchase agreements, like Tuesday’s deal, as a way for tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta to ease additional generation capacity payments, capacity and cost pressures.
