Microsoft signs renewable energy agreement with Canada’s Brookfield
Microsoft and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management have struck a renewable energy development deal that could see one of the largest corporate purchases of green energy to date, the companies said Tuesday.
Under the “first of its kind” deal, Brookfield said it plans to develop more than 10.5 gigawatts of new wind and solar farms for Microsoft as the tech giant aims to power its data centers and operations worldwide with carbon-free electricity by 2030.
The deal underlines how some of the world’s largest companies are making major investments in clean energy to meet climate goals while remaining competitive in the race to deploy artificial intelligence.
Delivering AI and cloud services is expected to skyrocket electricity demand as tech companies rush to build more resource-hungry data centers, increasing dependence on overburdened energy companies.
“This collaboration with Brookfield drives the innovative development of more diverse energy networks worldwide and helps achieve our goal of achieving 100 percent of our electricity consumption, 100 percent of the time, coupled with carbon-neutral energy purchases in 2030,” said Adrian Anderson, general manager of sustainable energy at Microsoft.
The companies did not disclose financial terms for the deal, which could potentially provide enough electricity needed to power millions of homes.
The agreement will allow Brookfield to expand its portfolio of wind and solar projects in the United States, Europe and potentially other regions in the coming years.
The company is “pleased to work with Microsoft to support customer demand with the buildout of more than 10.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity,” said Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield’s renewable energy unit.
The size of the agreement, which is nearly eight times larger than the largest corporate renewable energy purchase agreement ever signed, demonstrates both Brookfield’s strength in sustainable development and Microsoft’s purchasing power as a technology leader.
The framework agreement builds on and expands the existing partnership between Microsoft and Brookfield to provide more than ten times more renewable capacity between 2026 and 2030, the companies said.
The deal will initially focus on wind and solar power, but could be expanded to other technologies that can provide carbon-free electricity when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.
Microsoft is one of the major technology companies that are accelerating the purchasing of renewable energy by companies.
Google, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta are also among the biggest corporate buyers of clean energy as they try to meet their own zero-carbon pledges.
