US-based power marketer Gridmatic has signed a 10MW Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Sol Systems in Texas, with a portion of the power supplied to data center developer EdgeConneX under a 24/7 carbon-free energy agreement (24/7 CFE).

The solar PPA is tied to the Mars Solar project in Texas. It has a capacity of 14MW and reached commercial operations in 2019. The PPA is expected to directly support Gridmatic’s commercial and industrial retail business.

“This PPA adds reliable, carbon-free capacity to help us meet the growing energy needs of our retail customers,” said Jackson Vo, president of retail at Gridmatic.

The power generated will be optimized through Gridmatic’s AI-based market forecasting, with a segment supplied to EdgeConneX under the 24/7 CFE, which was recently renewed.

The 24/7 CFE program works through matching every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumption with CFE generation, measured on hourly increments.

In comparison to Renewable Energy Credits, where the offtaker acquires the ‘environmental attributes’ of a renewable energy project, 24/7 CFE measures carbon-free energy rather than renewable energy and requires time matching to ensure that electricity used at any given time is matched by the generation of clean energy at the same time.

“Our continued partnership with Gridmatic reflects our commitment to leading-edge sustainability,” said Phillip Marangella, chief marketing and product officer at EdgeConneX. “Hourly matching of clean energy is a critical step toward truly accountable decarbonization, and Gridmatic enables us to achieve that with precision.”

Gridmatic and EdgeConneX first implemented the 24/7 CFE program in 2021 as part of a pilot tied to one data center site in the ERCOT market.

The pilot had an original target of 62 percent 24/7 CFE in 2023 and 63 percent in 2024. To achieve the project goals, Gridmatic assembled a portfolio of off-site Gridmatic-contracted CFE generation and storage assets, with matching completed on an hourly basis.

According to the companies, within a few months of the pilot, they realized they were able to overachieve the original targets, subsequently raising them to a high figure. As a result, in 2023, the partners were able to achieve an average of 86.2 percent total CFE.

EdgeConneX has one operational data center in Texas, located in Houston. The Edge facility has 1.95MW of capacity, scalable to 7.55MW. In addition, the company is developing another facility in Austin. Phase I of the colocation facility is currently under development, and is expected to offer 96MW at full buildout across a 130-acre plot.

Several other data center companies have explored similar initiatives as a means to match their energy consumption more closely with clean power. In February, Digital Realty joined two 24/7 energy matching programs in Sweden and France.

Before this, in January 2024, Google expanded a 24/7 energy matching agreement with Flexidao to its operations in the US, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.