Google Partners With BlackRock And Invests In Its New Green Power

The move to adopt clean, green, sustainable and renewable energy sources has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years.

From the biggest corporations to simple civilians and aspiring startups, everyone is trying to do their best to make use of better sources of energy to reduce their carbon footprint and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

This includes moves to inspire suppliers to adopt energy-efficient electric systems in the long term.

Even tech conglomerate Apple has been taking big strides towards realizing this goal through its products, office operations and even suppliers!

Ahead of this, Google is also making big moves, with its newest one coming in the form of a partnership with American multinational investment company BlackRock, which includes an investment in BlackRock’s Taiwan-based New Green Power or NGP.

So, what’s Google doing with BlackRock and NGP About? Let’s explore!
 

What Is Google’s Move With BlackRock And New Green Power (NGP) About?

 

• Through a blog post published on its website, Google announced its latest move to accelerate clean energy in the Asia Pacific region.

• This includes a new partnership with BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business, which will help develop a 1-gigawatt (GW) pipeline of new solar capacity in Taiwan.

• The move will help facilitate clean energy practices on the local electricity grid as well as Google’s operations, a key move in Google’s “bold” goal to “reach net-zero emissions across all our operations and value chain by 2030, supported by a goal to run on 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where we operate.”

• One aspect of the partnership will also see Google make a capital investment in BlackRock’s Taiwan-based solar developer New Green Power (NGP), to help build its large-scale solar pipeline.

• As per BlackRock, Taiwan is targeting 20 GW of solar capacity by 2025 and up to 80 GW by 2050.

• Currently, Taiwan and other Asian Pacific countries face difficulties in adopting carbon-free energy sources. As a result, fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas cater to nearly 85% of Taiwan’s energy consumption.

• These challenges include high construction costs, land constraints, low availability of appropriate resources etc. This is where companies can step up and help find, build and promote clean energy sources.

• While Google’s investment with NGP is subject to regulatory approval, it will be used to develop its 1-GW pipeline of new solar projects.

• Through power purchase agreements (PPAs), Google aims to procure up to 300 MW of solar energy from this power source to power its data center campus, cloud region and office operations electricity demand in Taiwan.

• In the last few years, data centers have seen a jump in energy usage owing to artificial intelligence (AI) processes. 

• Furthermore, Google plans to share this benefit with its regional semiconductor suppliers and manufacturers.

 

What Did Stakeholders Say?

 

• David Giordano, BlackRock’s Global Head of Climate Infrastructure, said, “As we witness growth in demand for digital services, powered by AI and data-centric technologies, it becomes imperative to invest in clean energy. The partnership is a testament to the shared commitment between Google and BlackRock to driving the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

• Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Data Center Energy, Google, said, “Taiwan, a major site for Google's cloud technology with a data center and company offices, still relied on fossil fuels to generate nearly 85% of its power.”

• [Contd.] “The goal of this investment is really to support the build out of a large-scale solar pipeline in Taiwan.”

 

What Other Sustainability Moves Is Google Making?

 

• Google’s partnership with BlackRock builds on collaborations the company has made over the last five years to push clean energy practices across Asia Pacific.

• This includes playing a key role in transforming the 2017 amendment of Taiwan’s Electricity Act to allow non-utility companies to directly purchase renewable energy.

• At the end of 2023 Google also announced a new power purchase agreement (PPA) in Australia, between Google, AirTrunk and OX2 to enhance Australia’s grid with renewable energy.

• In May 2024, Google announced two new PPAs in Japan, with Clean Energy Connect and Shizen Energy to support its data centers in the region and infuse a combined 60 megawatts (MW) of new solar energy to the Japanese grid.

With industry giants such as Apple and Google making big moves towards green, renewable and sustainable energy, do you think other enterprises, big and small, should follow suit to reduce carbon emissions?

Let us know in the comments below!