Google signs new wind power deal for giant Iowa data centre

U.S tech giant Google has announced that its vast data centre in Iowa will be supplied with up to 407 megawatts (MW) of wind energy, after it signed a new deal this week.

The deal was agreed with MidAmerican Energy and will significantly boost the use of renewable energy at the site as Google looks to reinforce its green credentials.

The new agreement was part of Earth Day on Tuesday, which also saw Apple reaffirm its commitment to renewable energy use and reducing harmful materials in its products.

Google’s Head of Energy Strategy and Development, Neha Palmer, and Energy Program Manager, Sam Arons, said: “We now have a freshly inked agreement with MidAmerican Energy to supply our Iowa data centre facilities with up to 407MW of 100 percent renewable wind energy, as tracked by renewable energy certificates. This agreement will not only cover our current facilities but will allow for future expansion supplied by renewable energy as well.”

The 407MW installation that will be supplied to Google is sizeable with the largest offshore wind farm in the world, the London Array, providing 630MW

The largest onshore site, Alta Wind Energy Center (pictured above right) in California, has a capacity of 1,320MW.

According to Google it now has over 1,000MW of energy being provided by renewable sources, thanks to numerous projects and contracts in recent years, including the 2012 deal in Oklahoma with the Grand River Dam Authority.

Approximately 48 per cent of the energy used to power the company's data centres comes from renewable sources and around a third of its operations are fuelled by sustainable energy.