Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire energy certificates for a wind farm in Australia.
AGL Energy this month announced a 15-year renewable energy certificate agreement with Microsoft that will allow the technology company to receive renewable energy certificates from the Rye Park wind farm project in New South Wales, under the recent purchase agreement of (PPA) of AGL with Tilt Renewables.
Microsoft ANZ CEO Steven Worrall said: “We really appreciate the strong collaboration with AGL to increase our procurement of renewable energy certificates in Australia. Beyond this contract, we will continue to look for new opportunities to support the electricity grid transition. . in Australia to renewable energy sources and reduce emissions associated with our operations.”
The deal follows AGL’s PPA with Tilt Renewables in June 2023 to absorb the electricity and environmental products generated at the Rye Park wind farm. The 15-year agreement with Tilt provides AGL with an absorption of 45 percent (around 178 MW) of Rye Park’s production.
AGL COO Markus Brokhof said: “Renewable energy certificate supply agreements can help increase the viability of new renewable energy projects by providing them with an additional revenue stream.”
AGL supplies energy and telecommunications services throughout Australia and is the country’s largest energy generator. The majority of its energy portfolio is based on coal and gas, with growing investments in renewable technology.
Microsoft currently operates three Australian Azure cloud regions in New South Wales, Victoria and Canberra; the first two regions opened in 2014, the last in 2018.
The company is developing a new campus in sydneybut recently abandoned plans for another facility in another part of the city.
Powering Australian Renewables (PowAR), an Australian infrastructure investment fund owned by QIC and Australian sovereign wealth fund Future Fund, and partnered with AGL, acquired Tilt in 2021 alongside Mercury NZ, with AGL participating. PowAR has since been renamed Tilt.
The Rye Park wind farm, north of Yass, has been under construction since December 2021. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational by mid-2024, at which time it will have a total capacity of 396 MW.
In 2023, Microsoft signed PPA and energy agreements with AES in BrazilEnergy Constellation VirginiaPowerex in Washingtonand Contact energy in New Zealand.
The company has also signed multiple carbon capture offers and a tentative PPA with a nuclear fusion company.