Microsoft Signs 230-MW Solar and Wind Deal with Engie

(Photo: Microsoft headquarters. Credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images via Microsoft)

Microsoft Corporation signed a power purchase agreement with Engie for long-term solar and wind energy. The hybrid renewable deal delivers 230 megawatts from two Engie projects under construction in Texas.

Under the PPA, Microsoft will purchase most of the output from the 200-MW Las Lomas wind project in Starr and Zapata Counties, and 85 MW from the 200-MW Anson Solar Center project in Jones County, Texas. These two projects are scheduled to come online in January 2021 and will be operated by Engie, the energy company says.

The agreement also includes a volume firming agreement or VFA that the two companies say will convert the intermittent renewable energy supply into a fixed 24/7 power solution that’s in line with Microsoft’s energy needs.

This year alone, the tech giant signed two PPAs with EDP Renewables for 125 MW from a wind farm in Ohio, and an agreement for 90 MW from an Eneco offshore wind farm in the Netherlands. The latest PPA with Engie brings the Microsoft’s renewable energy portfolio total to more than 1.9 GW.

“Our renewable energy target has been certified by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) as aligned to a 1.5-degree Celsius future,” Lucas Joppa, Microsoft’s chief environmental officer said this week. “Science-based targets offer important measurement and accountability that is critical to assess if we’re making the progress the world needs, in the time frame we have available.”

In addition, Microsoft and Engie are collaborating on improving renewable asset performance. Engie’s Darwin software for real-time plant monitoring and control, reporting, forecasting, performance monitoring, and predictive maintenance is using the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform.

Azure’s internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence technologies include machine learning and cognitive services. Currently Darwin is deployed on more than 15 gigawatts of Engie’s assets globally, and has increased plant availability and improved production performance on some assets, according to the company.