Colocation firm Equinix has signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to procure renewable energy in Singapore.
Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) this week announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sembcorp Power Pte Ltd (Sembcorp Power), has signed two long-term PPAs with Equinix for its data center portfolio in Singapore.
Sembcorp Power will supply a maximum capacity of 75MWp from its solar assets and 30MW from its gas-power generation portfolio to Equinix for up to 18 years.
This is Equinix’s first PPA in Singapore.
The company will be offtaking from the Housing Development Board’s (HDB) SolarNova 7 program, which will see solar panels installed across 1,290 HDB blocks and 99 government sites. The project is set to launch in 2027.
Raouf Abdel, EVP global operations, Equinix, said: “Equinix made our commitment to 100 percent clean and renewable energy in 2015 and since then, we have been continuously exploring new opportunities to scale and improve the quality of those resources. Our recent PPA agreements in Singapore and Australia are significant steps toward our 2030 goal of 100 percent clean and renewable coverage globally.”
Equinix currently operates five data centers across Singapore – the last opening in 2022 – and was one of four parties to be granted new capacity last year under a pilot scheme to relax Singapore’s ongoing data center moratorium.
Launched in 2014, Singapore’s SolarNova program deploys solar panels atop government-owned buildings and housing. The program aims to generate an estimated 420GWh of solar energy annually; equivalent to around 5 percent of Singapore’s total energy consumption. Under the scheme, solar energy is first used to power common services (e.g. lifts, lights, and water pumps) on HDB estates during the day, with excess energy channeled to the grid.
Sembcorp – which counts Singaporean wealth fund Temasek as a major investor – says it has a portfolio of 727MWp in Singapore. It has previously signed PPAs with Singtel, Google, and Meta.
Vickrem Vijayan, head of energy commercial, Singapore, Sembcorp, said: “We are pleased to support Equinix with its first renewable energy PPA in Singapore, as it transitions towards its 2030 sustainability goals. Our unique suite of competitive and green energy solutions will underpin Equinix’s sustainability efforts and environmental stewardship within its data centers, which are a fast-growing cornerstone of the digital economy.”
Equinix has now signed 22 PPAs globally. The company said these agreements are expected to contribute over 3 million MWh of renewable energy annually to grids across the US, Australia, France, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Singapore once operational.
