Ørsted and Google have entered into a partnership to purchase renewable energy from the Helena Wind Farm in Bee County, Texas, through a 150 MW power purchase agreement. The agreement, which runs for 15 years, strengthens Ørsted’s renewable energy portfolio in the United States.
The Helena Wind Farm began operating in mid-2022 and provides inexpensive electricity to the South ERCOT service area, with enough capacity to power approximately 90,000 homes.
This marks Google’s first agreement with Ørsted in the United States and its second globally. Both agreements are in line with Google’s commitment to using 24/7 carbon-free energy to power all of its data centers, cloud regions, and offices by 2030.
“Building a 24/7 carbon free energy portfolio requires us to blend various resources to optimise for hourly production, and that’s exactly what this project helps us accomplish” says Sana Ouji, Energy Lead at Google. “We’re excited to continue our partnership with Ørsted and add this wind project to our existing solar portfolio in ERCOT as we serve customers out of our Dallas cloud region.”
In setting a 24/7 carbon-free energy target, Google intends to fulfill its electricity requirements with carbon-free energy supply every hour of every day, in all of the regions where it has a presence, by 2030. Several other institutions have subsequently adopted comparable commitments.
“As a trusted partner in providing clean energy solutions for our customers, we’re proud to support Google’s decarbonisation goals on both a regional and global scale,” says Monica Testa, Head of Origination at Ørsted Americas. “Google’s leadership in the investment of renewable energy and commitment to advancing 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 sets a strong example for companies across the globe and we look forward to helping them achieve that ambition.”
The Helena Wind Farm is a 268 MW onshore wind farm located in Pawnee, Texas. Nearly 300 jobs have been created to construct and operate the facility. The facility represents a nearly half billion-dollar investment in Bee County and will generate tens of millions in tax revenue that will enhance county services, providing additional support for the local school districts without raising taxes.
Ørsted has an ambition to reach 17.5 GW of onshore renewables in 2030 and aims to deliver approximately 1.5 GW of additional capacity annually while growing a clean energy portfolio consisting of wind, solar, storage and renewable hydrogen.
