Microsoft has signed two Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to procure wind energy in Texas.
The company has signed two 15-year PPAs with RWE to purchase electricity from two new onshore wind farms in Texas.
The two onshore wind projects – Peyton Creek II and the Lane City project – have a combined capacity of 446MW.
Andrew Flanagan, CEO of RWE Clean Energy, said: “As RWE, we are excited to be working with Microsoft to provide the clean electricity they need to achieve their sustainability goals. Together, we’re united in our efforts to deliver a clean energy future. As a growing green business, we are committed to driving our renewable targets, supporting local communities grow sustainably.”
Construction of the 243MW Peyton Creek Wind Complex near Bay City is underway. Construction of the 203MW Lane City project will start this summer.
RWE will use the V163 4.5MW turbines from Vestas North America. RWE has enlisted Wanzek and RES to lead construction activities at Peyton Creek II and Lane City on behalf of RWE.
Once the two projects are completed, RWE’s renewables footprint in Texas will grow to 4.8GW; the company’s renewables portfolio across the US totals 9.3GW across wind, solar, and batteries.
RWE has previously signed a solar PPA in the US with Meta and a wind deal with Vodafone in Germany.
Microsoft has more than 5GW of data center capacity in operation and expects to add 1GW of server power over the next six months, followed by 1.5GW of new data center capacity in the first half of 2025.
The company is already one of the world’s largest corporate buyers of renewable energy, and in a job posting said it has more than 20GW of renewable energy under contract.
Microsoft recently signed a major renewable energy framework deal with Brookfield to invest an estimated $10 billion in renewable electricity projects to be developed by Brookfield Asset Management.
2024 has seen the company sign PPAs in Ohio, Ireland, and France, as well as a 400MW PPA in Texas with Leeward Renewable Energy.
It has put out a PPA request for innovative energy technologies alongside Google and Nucor, and made multiple carbon capture and removal investments.
