Microsoft has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Clearway Energy Group in West Virginia.
The PPA will see Microsoft granted access to energy generated by the 335MW Mount Storm wind farm located in Grant County, West Virginia. The exact capacity contracted via the PPA and its duration were not disclosed.
Valerie Wooley, SVP of Origination at Clearway, said: “We are proud to support the development of renewable energy and economic growth in the community.”
Mount Storm, which has been operational since 2008, is currently going through a process of repowering. The repowering, which was announced last November, is expected to cost around $735 million, and will replace the wind farm's 132 aging turbines with 78 new “state-of-the-art” machines.
According to Clearway the repowering will extend the life of the facility by 35 years and is expected to be completed by 2027.
The PPA is Microsoft's fourth this calendar year. In March, the company signed three solar linked PPAs with AES across Michigan, Missouri, and Illinois with a combined capacity of 475MW.
Before this, it signed two onshore wind-linked PPAs with Energia in Ireland and three PPAs with EDPR North America for 389MW of power in Illinois and Texas.
Clearway is a San Francisco-headquartered renewable energy developer which was founded in 2018. According to its website it has a portfolio of 11.8GW of gross capacity across 26 US states.
Of this, 9.1GW is wind, solar, and battery energy storage, with the remaining 2.8GW flexible dispatchable power. Flexible dispatchable power refers to a generation source that can be turned off and on and adjusted to meet demand, such as natural gas or hydropower.
