Elly Yates-Roberts |
Microsoft and renewable energy supplier Eneco have partnered to drive sustainable business transformations. Microsoft will use Eneco’s clean wind energy to power its data centres starting in 2022.
After an earlier purchase in the year, Microsoft will buy 90 megawatts of offshore wind energy from the Dutch firm, bringing its total wind energy purchases in the Netherlands to 270 megawatts.
“Our purchasing of renewable energy helps improve the sustainability of our operations and local grids,” said Brian Janous, general manager of Energy and Sustainability at Microsoft. “This agreement is our 14th renewable energy power purchase agreement and brings our total clean energy portfolio to more than 1.5 gigawatts.
“The electricity generated will help support the continued long-term growth of Microsoft cloud services delivered from the Netherlands, which is one of 54 Azure regions announced and part of one of the largest and most innovative cloud infrastructures in the world.”
The power agreement is the next step in an ongoing relationship between Eneco and Microsoft. In 2018, Eneco chose Microsoft as its preferred cloud partner, signing a three-year deal with Microsoft Azure to achieve its digital transformation goals.
“Tech companies are facing the challenge to reduce their carbon footprints, mostly due to the vast energy consumption of their datacentres,” said Hans Peters, chief customer officer at Eneco. “A global frontrunner like Microsoft does not see this as a challenge, but as an opportunity to boost the energy transition.
“We are proud we can help them switch to a sustainable, smart and clean energy supply in the Netherlands. As a result, Microsoft is creating local opportunity, growth and impact while enabling Eneco to continue to invest in large-scale renewable energy projects like Borssele III/IV.”