A significant new offshore wind deal was signed by Google

Signing power purchase agreements to support two new wind farms off the coast of the Netherlands, Google announced its largest deal to date to buy offshore wind energy for its data centers in Europe.

This is part of Google's goal of generating enough renewable energy to match all of the electricity utilized in its data centers around the clock by 2030. To do so, the company must help increase the quantity of renewable energy that flows through the electrical networks in the regions where it operates, especially offshore wind. Today, it announced "the next step" of that strategy for Europe, noting that the grid will receive more than 700 megawatts of new sustainable energy capacity.

Google operates two out of its 24 data centers in the Netherlands, where two new offshore wind farms will offer a significant percentage of the additional capacity. The CrossWind and Ecowende consortiums are joint ventures between Shell Petroleum and Eneco, the energy firms, with power purchase agreements in place.

The enterprises are developing two projects: the Hollandse Kust Noord (HKN) Wind Farm Zone Site V and the Hollandse Kust West (HKW) Site VI, which, eventually combined, are expected to meet around 6 percent of the Netherlands' annual electricity consumption. HKW VI is anticipated to start running in 2026, whereas HKN started producing power a year ago.

In addition to previous power purchase contracts, Google boasts that its Dutch data centers will use 90 percent sustainable energy this year. Google also announced smaller partnerships to acquire renewable energy from onshore solar and wind farms in Belgium, the nation of Poland, and Italy.

Remember that Google plans to offset its electricity consumption by purchasing carbon-free energy. It's not as if the data centers will just use renewable energy, which accounts for roughly 40% of all electricity generated in the Netherlands.