Japanese IT and networking firm NEC Corporation has signed a virtual Power Purchase Agreement (vPPA) with Japanese wind farm developer Cosmo Eco Power for the environmental value generated by the 48.3MW Chuki Wind Farm in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.

The vPPA has been in effect since December 25 of last year. According to NEC, following the deal, approximately 50 percent of its electricity consumption from its Japanese data center portfolio is now covered by renewable energy.

The onshore wind farm commenced commercial operations in April 2021 and will continue to deliver power into the Japanese electricity market, with NEC only purchasing the environmental value generated.

Cosmo Eco Power is a subsidiary of the larger Cosmo Energy Group, a diversified energy company involved in petroleum refining, hydrogen production, and the development of sustainable aviation fuels.

NEC has a robust portfolio of data centers across the Japanese market. According to its cloud solutions page, NEC operates three core cloud data centers; one in Kobe to the west of Osaka, another in Kanagawa to the south of Tokyo, and one in the Inzai area to Tokyo’s east, which was completed in 2022.

As well as the three cloud facilities and a data center in Nagoya, the company also has smaller data centers in Ehime prefecture on Shikoku Island; Fukuoka City on Kyushu Island; Sapporo City on Hokkaido Island; Hiroshima; Tokyo; and Kanagawa Prefecture (but separate to the cloud Kanagawa facility) in Kawasaki City, Yokohama City, and East Japan.

NEC also has a data center joint venture with local system integrator SCSK, which is part of the Sumitomo Corporation conglomerate. SCSK operates 10 data centers in Japan totaling 95,000 sqm (one million sq ft) through its netXDC subsidiary.