Commercial, Industrial, Wind  -  November 2, 2017

Microsoft announces 2nd European wind deal

Microsoft Corp. on Nov. 2 announced its second European wind project in the Netherlands. 

Microsoft will purchase 100% of the wind energy generated from a repowered and expanded wind farm that is adjacent to its local datacenter operations in the Netherlands. Swedish power giant Vattenfall is expected to begin construction of the 180-MW wind farm in 2018, with expected completion in 2019. 

Microsoft said in a news release that its Netherlands datacenter operations serve as a regional hub to deliver Microsoft Cloud services to customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as global customers. With the latest expansion completed in 2015, the datacenter is a technologically advanced facility built to reduce water, power and energy use.

The tech giant said the proximity of the wind farm to Microsoft's datacenters made it particularly attractive, as matching production and consumption of renewable energy so closely unlocks great transmission efficiencies.

"Investing in local clean energy to power our local datacenter is a win-win for our business and the Netherlands," Brian Janous, general manager of energy at Microsoft said in a statement. "Microsoft is committed to bringing new renewable energy sources online to power our datacenters. By focusing on local projects, we're able to create new economic opportunities, reduce carbon emissions and make progress on our global commitment to increase the amount of clean energy used to power the Microsoft Cloud."

The project,  which will be one one of the largest onshore wind farms in the Netherlands once completed, is Microsoft's second in Europe, following by about a month its 37-GW project with General Electric in Ireland. Once completed, Microsoft's total global direct procurement in renewable energy projects will be nearly 800 MW, according to the company.

"With these wind projects, we’re making considerable progress against the corporate clean energy commitments we set for ourselves in 2016,"  said Christian Belady, general manager for Microsoft Cloud infrastructure and operations.

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