Digital Realty, a large global provider of cloud and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions, has announced that it is contracting for 158 megawatts (MW) of new solar power in California and Georgia.
The move advances Digital Realty’s progress toward 100% renewable electricity and its 1.5 degree C-aligned Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – a global standard for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“These efforts are part of our strategy to reduce our carbon footprint,” said A. William Stein, CEO, Digital Realty. “We are demonstrating that the data centre industry is a key part of the transition to a digital economy that is powered by clean energy.”
The contracts include a 12-year agreement to support the development of a new 130 MW utility-scale solar project in Kern County, California. The project – developed by Terra-Gen as part of its Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage energy project – is one of the largest solar-plus-storage projects in the world and is expected to be completed in late-2022.
Additionally, Digital Realty is subscribing to Georgia Power’s Customer Renewable Supply Procurement programme. The company will receive 28 MW of new solar supply to support its Atlanta data centre portfolio. The energy will be generated by new solar facilities located in Georgia. The programme is expected to begin delivering power and renewable energy certificates to Digital Realty in 2024.
In 2020, Digital Realty set aggressive science-based carbon emissions targets with the SBTi, becoming one of the first global data centre organisations of its size and scale to do so. Digital Realty has committed to reducing its Scope 1 and 2 emissions (direct and indirect emissions) by 68% and Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions in its value chain) by 24% by 2030.
