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Equinix Inc. commits to making its data centers in California completely renewable. The company signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunEdison to have 11 Californian data centers powered by 105MW of solar power plant. With the PPA, Equinix has increased its global use of clean, renewable sources from 30% to 43%.
"Equinix's purpose is to power the digital economy and we believe that it is important to do this in an environmentally sustainable way,” said Karl Strohmeyer, president of Equinix Americas. “This PPA is a major milestone in achieving our long-term goal of reaching 100% renewable power and it solidifies Equinix's position as a global data center leader in sustainability."
Earlier this year, Equinix announced its commitment to 100% clean and renewable energy for its entire global footprint of 105 data centers located in 33 markets. It has deployed a 342 kWp PV solar system at its SG3 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Singapore and is in the process of installing a 1MW fuel cell system, fueled by bio-gas, at its Silicon Valley (SV5) data center.
The agreement is to purchase power generated by the Mount Signal Solar II project located in the territory of San Diego Gas & Electric near Calexico, California. It total installation capacity is 150MWac and is expected to achieve commercial operation in the second half of 2016. When operating, the project will generate approximately 300,000MWh of clean electricity per year to power Equinix’s data centers. Equinix will also receive Green-e certified renewable energy certificates from SunEdison to bridge the approximately 12 months from contract execution to project completion.
Equinix also signed on to the World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers' Principles, which are used to advocate for easier access to, cost competitiveness of, and increased grid use of renewable energy sources. Furthermore, the company has joined the Rocky Mountain Institute's Business Renewables Center (BRC) which is a collaborative platform aimed at accelerating corporate renewable energy procurement. SunEdison is a founding project developer member of the BRC.