Google Energy LLC is a company that is part of Alphabet Inc. It was created to help lower the energy costs for the Google Group. Later, the company began making and selling clean energy. This division also helps use projects that are supported by Google.org, which is part of Alphabet's efforts to help with good causes.
Operations
By 2007, Google had spent a large amount of money on wind, solar, solar thermal, and geothermal projects, including a 1.6 MW solar installation at its headquarters. In 2010, Google Energy made its first investment in a renewable-energy project, providing $38.8 million for two wind farms in North Dakota. The company said the two locations would produce 169.5 MW of power, enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, would reduce the use of fossil fuels in the region. NextEra Energy Resources sold Google a 20% share in the project to help fund development. Also, on July 30, 2010, Google Energy agreed to buy 114 MW of wind energy from NextEra Energy in Iowa at a fixed rate for 20 years. The company plans to use most of the electricity for its data centers, though some may be sold on the open market.
In 2010, Google Energy, along with other investors, announced a plan to build the Atlantic Wind Connection, an undersea cable off the Atlantic coast to connect future offshore wind farms to onshore power grids. The project faced financial problems because the low cost of natural gas made large-scale offshore wind projects less competitive.
In April 2011, Google extended its partnership with NextEra by signing a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for its Minco II Wind Energy Center. As of 2011, the 100.8-megawatt wind farm was being developed in Grady and Caddo counties near Minco.
Google invested in SolarCity twice: $280 million in 2011 and $300 million in 2015.
On September 17, 2013, the company announced it would buy all the electricity produced by the 240-megawatt Happy Hereford wind farm near Amarillo, Texas, once construction was complete. Google Energy purchased the electricity from Chermac Energy and planned to sell it in the wholesale market in Oklahoma, where one of its data centers is located.
As of 2024, Google (through its parent company Alphabet) has signed agreements for over 22 gigawatts of clean-energy generation capacity in more than 170 deals to power its data centers.
DeepMind integration
Google has used DeepMind AI to make wind energy production more efficient by addressing the unpredictable nature of wind power. This technology was applied to 700 MW of wind power capacity. DeepMind trained a computer model using weather forecasts and historical data from wind turbines to predict how much energy would be produced 36 hours in advance. Based on these predictions, the model suggests how to send power to the electrical grid up to one day ahead. Google reported this improved the "value" of its wind farms by about 20%, though it did not explain what this value means or how it is measured. The technology was developed and tested internally, and by 2019, there was potential for it to be sold to other wind farm operators.
Authorization to buy and sell energy
In February 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave Google permission to buy and sell energy at prices set by the market. The decision explains that Google Energy, which is a company owned by Google, has the right to sell energy, capacity, and other related services at market-based rates. However, it also notes that neither Google Energy nor any of its connected companies own or control any power generation or electricity transmission facilities.