Google Inks Taiwan’s First Corporate Geothermal Energy Deal To Power Data Centers - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

In a significant step towards its clean energy goals, Alphabet‘s Google GOOG GOOGL has secured the first corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) for geothermal energy in Taiwan.

What Happened: Google announced on Wednesday that the company has signed the first corporate PPAs for geothermal energy in Taiwan. Since 2019, when Google signed its first corporate solar power purchase agreement (PPA) in Taiwan, the company has been actively promoting clean energy development to support the electricity needs of its local data centers and offices.

The initial projects, led by global geothermal developer Baseload Capital, will add 10 megawatts of continuous power to the grid and help boost Taiwan’s geothermal market. The partnership also involves an equity investment in Baseload Capital.

Geothermal energy, which uses heat from beneath the Earth’s surface to generate clean electricity, is highly promising for Taiwan, which has a location advantage on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire.

Why It Matters: This move by Google comes at a time when tech giants are under scrutiny for their environmental impact. A recent study from UC Riverside and Caltech found that pollution from data centers, which power artificial intelligence models and cloud computing, has cost the U.S. public health system an estimated $5.4 billion over the past five years. Google, along with Microsoft Corp. MSFT and Meta Platforms Inc. META, were among the biggest contributors.

By pioneering the use of geothermal energy in Taiwan, Google is taking a significant step towards reducing its environmental footprint and leading the tech industry towards cleaner energy solutions.

Google’s dedication to geothermal energy goes beyond its efforts in Taiwan. The company is actively involved in advancing and commercializing next-generation geothermal technologies worldwide, through its enhanced geothermal project in collaboration with Fervo Energy and its subsurface data initiative with Project Innerspace. The Sundar Pichai-led company is also collaborating to support new research focused on developing geothermal energy in Australia, Japan, and Indonesia.

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