Google cries out for wind power

Google first bought wind power directly to supply electricity to a data center in Oklahoma. Prior to this, Google has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in projects one way or another related to clean energy, but it came to the supply of data centers for the first time.



Google has advocated the introduction of clean energy and has invested huge amounts of money in it over the years. Last Wednesday, the company announced that it would directly use clean energy to power one of its data centers in Oklahoma. The company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in "solar" and "wind" projects throughout the United States in order to one day begin to supply clean energy to its data centers.
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Of course, this step was planned for quite some time. Google’s former “energy king” Bill Weihl, who now works on Facebook, said a few years ago that everything was going to use clean energy in information centers, but even a search giant like Google took some time. to find a suitable project and reliable supplier.

The processing center itself was built in Mayes County, Oklahoma in 2011. Earlier this year, Google began working with the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) to buy 48 MW of wind power from the Canadian Hills Wind Project in Oklahoma. According to Google representatives, they paid far more for this energy than they could have paid for ordinary cheap energy anywhere else, just to support the project. As noted by Greenpeace, half of the Oklahoma power system runs on coal.

Google says that GRDA also planned to sell energy to Google for a long time, and the “wind” project is their first project based on clean energy. In fact, it would be great if there were more clean energy suppliers in the world, because many large energy consumers want to use it and are even willing to pay for it extra, but they are not looking for suppliers as actively as Google.

Most of the major Internet companies strive to build their data centers where energy is cheap and easily accessible. And such energy, as a rule, is energy from minerals - coal and gas. As exceptions can be identified, perhaps, a place like Iceland, where there is a lot of cheap geothermal and water clean energy.

This case is the first in our memory when the owner of a data center buys energy at an inflated price, so Google should be given its due. Greenpeace, by the way, spoke of this in the news:

Today’s announcement by Google suggests that the most intelligent, successful, and forward-looking companies are serious about switching to clean energy.

Hopefully, Google’s first step is just the beginning of a long journey.

Google was initially convinced that you need to work with suppliers of clean energy, unlike other Internet companies that are trying to extract clean energy on their own. Apple, for example, builds huge solar and biofuel farms near its data centers in Maidan, Northern California. The auction giant eBay is also building a huge energy center near one of its information centers.

Leading Internet companies are just beginning to work with clean energy, experimenting with it, but the vast majority still prefer cheap fossil energy.

Will such a move by Google the beginning of a new era in the energy supply of large companies?

How do you think in our country is it worth the wait, or until the largest IT companies start building their data centers in the Russian Federation, then there’s no point in talking about it?