US global search engine colossus and technology leaders Google have announced it will use electricity generated by a solar park to power a recently opened data center that the firm established. Google has publicly disclosed that it will purchase all of the electricity which is generated by the largest solar park in Holland over the next decade to power its data center.
The data center was only recently opened a number of months ago and houses thousands of servers. Google delivered a joint-statement with energy provider Eneco on the project between both parties. This is all part of Google's vision and ambition which is to switch its data centers and offices to be powered by renewable energy.
Google has previously expressed its desire to promote clean energy in order to protect the environment - and has always been an advocate of green initiatives. However, Google's plans have undoubtedly been helped by a steep fall in prices for wind and solar energy. The financial details of its contract with Eneco were not disclosed, but Google's European energy manager, Marc Oman stated that the company will provide the US technology firm with renewable energy for years to come.
This announcement between Google and Eneco comes fresh on the back of a government initiative by the Netherlands, in which it is has pledged to boost its renewable energy production by investing €12 billion euros offshore wind farms. In addition to this, the Eemshaven data center, which is estimated to have cost around €600m to construct in 2016, is one of four other data centers operated by Google in Europe.