According to Reuters, Google announced that it has signed a 10-year renewable energy deal to built in Finland to obtain power from three new wind farms being. This clean wind energy will be used to power one of its data centers.
Google stated this is the first instance where it was rewarding European projects without fear of government subsidies.
“Finland is a great example of how the internet can help drive economic growth, and we look forward to partnering with the Finnish Government in the months and years ahead,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, “Together we can make sure everyone benefits from a strong and sustainable digital economy.”
“For Google there is a very clear business case for signing these PPAs, given the energy prices in the Nordics, the wind conditions in Finland and the way projects are permitted here. This is very encouraging and also an important market signal for the policy-makers,” says Marc Oman, Senior Lead, Energy & Infrastructure, Google.
The technology giant Google has announced it will invest 600 million euros and it will support almost 4 300 jobs in Finland annually for the coming two years.
TuuliWatti’s Managing Director Jari Suominen anticipates great potential in Finnish wind power, which will provide the country with the opportunity to become self-sufficient and export power. “Finland’s surface area is similar in size to densely populated Germany but the amount of installed wind power is still just a small fraction in comparison. There is plenty of space in sparsely populated Finland,” says Suominen in an interview with Kauppalehti.
In 2011, Finland introduced a feed-in tariff for offshore wind energy. This led to substantial investments in the industry of clean energy.
“Since 2011, Finland’s wind power market has attracted a great deal of interest from both domestic and international investors. The recent market-based projects and agreements signal the start of a new phase in the development of wind power in Finland, demonstrating that this sector is commercially attractive,” says Jari Tielinen, Senior Advisor, Invest in Finland.
There are currently about 15,500 MW of wind power projects planned in Finland, according to the Finnish Wind Power Association. From these projects, 7300 MW already have the required planning and building permits and could be realised in the short term
Sources:
goodnewsfinland.com
environmentalleader.com
