Digital Realty, one of the largest global providers of cloud-and-carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions, and the global energy company, ENGIE, have announced an agreement that will drive the expansion of renewable energies in Germany.
Digital Realty and ENGIE have signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 116MW share of a new 154MW ground-mounted solar photovoltaic project. Digital Realty’s offtake commitment, estimated at 120GWh per year, supports the construction of the new solar park to be built by CEE Group, an infrastructure fund specialising in renewable energy projects. Located in Brandenburg in the north-east of Germany, the solar park is scheduled to start operation in late 2023.
“The climate challenge is one of the critical issues facing society today,” said Volker Ludwig, Managing Director of Digital Realty, Germany. “As an industry leader, Digital Realty focuses on supporting the evolving needs of our global customer base, helping them deliver growth while supporting net-new renewable energy projects where we operate.”
“Digital Realty is committed to powering its data centres with renewable energy and supporting new and sustainable domestic energy sources. We’re working hard to make the switch to renewable power across our entire portfolio and support the development of renewable energy projects like this new solar power plant as our business continues to expand. This project will further improve the quality and impact of our renewable portfolio by reducing our reliance on existing renewable resources and supplanting them with Guarantees of Origin (GoOs) from this new solar park,” said Ludwig.
Digital Realty has achieved 100% renewable energy coverage for its entire European portfolio and its US colocation portfolio and is carbon neutral in France (Scopes 1 and 2), resulting in 64% renewable energy coverage across its global portfolio in 2021, representing an increase of 14% from 2020. In 2022, Digital Realty further expanded its renewable portfolio and added green assets to the energy grid, contracting for 490MW of solar and wind to support its global data centre portfolio.
As the interface between CEE and Digital Realty, ENGIE worked to match the supply with the demand for renewable energy and design a flexible PPA tailored to the needs of Digital Realty.
“We are pleased to support Digital Realty’s efforts to add new renewables in markets where the company operates,” said Katrin Fuhrmann, Head of Origination, ENGIE. “As a major player in renewable PPAs, we have the opportunity to match suppliers and buyers of green power, even in a highly volatile market environment. This transaction supports the development of new renewable energies in Germany and enhances the continued sustainable operation of Digital Realty’s data centres.”
