Google invests in Taiwanese solar company to boost green energy

It’s one of the world’s biggest Al semiconductor hubs.

·Contributing Reporter

Updated 1 July 2024 at 1:13 pm·1-min read

Google is investing in a Taiwanese solar company with plans to build a 1 gigawatt (GW) pipeline of sustainable energy in the region. The company is placing a stake in New Green Power (NGP), part of BlackRock’s investment portfolio, for the project. The move could help Google and Taiwan move closer to their climate goals while stabilizing green energy production in one of the most crucial semiconductor hubs of our new AI-infused world.

Google already has a significant presence in Taiwan, including a data center. According to Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data center energy, fossil fuels currently generate nearly 85 percent of Taiwan’s power grid. “To help overcome these obstacles, companies can play a pivotal role in finding new strategies to grow the supply of available renewable energy sources and promoting emerging technologies that enable the full decarbonization of regional electricity systems,” she wrote.

Google expects to use up to 300 megawatts of solar capacity to power its data centers in Taiwan. In addition, Peterson Corio says the company “may offer a portion of this clean energy capacity to [its] semiconductor suppliers and manufacturers in the region.” She said that would help its partners meet their green energy goals and reduce indirect (Scope 3) emissions from Google’s supply chain partners.

“A significant share of our Scope 3 footprint can be traced back to the electricity grids that power our suppliers and users, which is why broad decarbonization — and partnerships like this — continue to be core to our net-zero goal,” Peterson Corio wrote.

Regulators haven’t yet approved the deal. Google hasn’t said how much it’s investing in NGP.

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