File photo.VINITA, Oklahoma -
Google and the Grand River Dam Authority have announced a joint agreement for GRDA to supply Google's Mayes County data center with 48 MW of wind energy from the Canadian Hills Wind project in west central Oklahoma.
According to a news release from GRDA, this agreement marks the first time Google has contracted directly with a utility provider to increase its renewable energy consumption. This is also GRDA's first wind energy power purchase agreement.
Discussions began in February 2012, when GRDA approached Google about purchasing power from the wind project.
The agreement, in conjunction with the energy supply agreement already in place between Google and GRDA, calls for Google to pay GRDA a premium to purchase renewable energy.
"At Google, we pursue innovative approaches to power our operations with renewable energy," said Urs Hoelzle, Senior Vice President of Technical Infrastructure. "We've been working closely with all of our utility partners to find ways to make this happen, and we believe this project will be the first of many utility partnerships to deliver renewable energy to our facilities."
"Google's long and demonstrated commitment to renewable energy, combined with their significant and growing presence within our service area, has been an important factor in GRDA's pursuit of renewables, as exemplified by this agreement," said Dan Sullivan, CEO of GRDA.
The Canadian Hills Wind Project is expected to go online later this year.
