Google to Spend over $3 Billion on Hydropower

Google signed a deal to spend over $3 billion to use hydropower from Brookfield Renewable Energy in its data centres. Initial contracts under the deal include a 20-year power purchase agreement for 670 megawatts of capacity from two hydropower plants in the US state of Pennsylvania.

Brookfield stated its facilities in Pennsylvania will be relicensed, upgraded, or overhauled to meet the tech giant’s requirements. The deal is part of a broader hydro framework agreement, which allows Google to source up to a total of five gigawatts of capacity.

Google and Brookfield noted that the agreement is the first of its kind and the world’s largest corporate clean power deal for hydroelectricity to date. The agreement is part of Google’s efforts to power its operations with carbon-free energy in the face of surging power demands to build data centres and train AI models.