Google acquires stake in Taiwan solar power firm owned by BlackRock

Google announced that it has invested in Taiwan’s New Green Power and has the option to purchase up to 300 megawatts of renewable energy from the company, which is controlled by the BlackRock fund, in order to reduce its own and its suppliers’ carbon emissions.
Investment firms are pressuring companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with their operations and value chains; Big Tech companies have set some of the most aggressive goals.

Everywhere it operations, Google strives to run entirely on carbon-free energy. Yet, industry expansion in the need for data processing capability to enable AI has resulted in an increase in emissions.

According to Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s Global Head of Data Centre Energy, Taiwan, a significant location for the company’s cloud computing infrastructure that houses a data centre and corporate offices, still depends on fossil fuels to provide roughly 85% of its electricity.

“The goal of this investment is really to support the buildout of a large-scale solar pipeline in Taiwan,” Corio stated.

The decarbonisation of regions like Asia Pacific may provide challenges because of their less established infrastructure and regulations that hinder corporate customers’ ability to purchase green power.

New Green Power, owned by a fund managed by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business, was one of the leading solar developers and operators in Taiwan, BlackRock’s Global Head of Climate Infrastructure David Giordano told Reuters.

Google and BlackRock both declined to specify the size of the equity stake being taken in NGP, but Corio said the investment was expected to drive the equity and debt financing for the build-out of its 1 gigawatt (GW) pipeline.

Taiwan is targeting 20 GW of solar capacity by 2025 and up to 80 GW by 2050, BlackRock said.

Corio said that as well as using some of the solar power it buys to drive its own operations, Google would also be able to offer some to its suppliers and manufacturers in the region.

David Giordano, Global Head of Climate Infrastructure at BlackRock, told Reuters that New Green Power, which was part of a fund managed by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure division, was one of the top solar developers and operators in Taiwan.

The amount of equity being taken up by Google and BlackRock in NGP was not disclosed, but Corio stated that the investment was anticipated to drive debt and equity financing for the pipeline’s 1 gigawatt (GW) expansion.

Taiwan hopes to have 20 GW of solar power installed by 2025 and as much as 80 GW by 2050, according to BlackRock.

According to Corio, Google would be able to give some of the solar energy it purchases to its local manufacturers and suppliers in addition to using it to power its own operations.

She went on to say that sharing with suppliers will assist Google in reducing its so-called Scope 3 emissions, or those related to its value chain.