Google invests in Taiwan’s NGP for renewable energy push

Google announced a strategic investment in Taiwan’s New Green Power (NGP), a company owned by BlackRock’s climate infrastructure fund, to advance its carbon reduction efforts.

The tech giant plans to potentially purchase up to 300 megawatts of renewable energy from NGP to decrease emissions from its own operations and supply chain. This move aligns with increasing pressure on companies to lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with their activities and value chains.

Google aims to operate entirely on carbon-free energy but has faced challenges due to the growing demand for data-processing capacity driven by artificial intelligence, which has led to a rise in emissions.

Despite Taiwan’s dependence on fossil fuels for nearly 85 per cent of its energy needs, Google sees this investment as a crucial step towards building a significant solar energy infrastructure in the region.

Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s Global Head of Data Centre Energy, emphasised the investment’s goal to support a large-scale solar pipeline in Taiwan, a region facing difficulties in decarbonisation due to underdeveloped infrastructure and limitations on corporate green power purchases.

David Giordano, BlackRock’s Global Head of Climate Infrastructure, highlighted NGP’s position as a leading solar developer in Taiwan. Although neither Google nor BlackRock disclosed the equity stake details, Corio mentioned that the investment would facilitate financing for NGP’s 1 gigawatt (GW) solar project pipeline.

Taiwan aims to reach 20 GW of solar capacity by 2025 and up to 80 GW by 2050. Google plans to use part of the solar power for its own operations and also supply it to regional suppliers and manufacturers, helping reduce its Scope 3 emissions, which encompass its entire value chain.

Attribution: Reuters.