'Finn-ish' wind farm, Google urges

STOCKHOLM, FINLAND: Google said on Tuesday (4 June) it had entered a ten-year deal with a Swedish wind farm developer to power a data centre in Finland that will soon reduce its energy costs.

The US search company said it would buy the entire electricity output of a new wind farm to be operated by Swedish firm O2 in Maevaara in the north of Sweden, to cover the energy needs of its data centre in Hamina, in southern Finland. No financial details were provided.

Google said it expected to reduce its electricity bill by an undisclosed amount "depending on the evolution of the market," according to Francois Sterin, a senior manager at the company's infrastructure team.

The 24 wind turbines, with a total capacity of 72 megawatts, would start producing electricity in 2015 but construction on the project would begin "in the coming months", the company said.

The wind power plant will be owned by German insurer Allianz, which is funding the project.

Google already claims to be a carbon neutral company, and has joined in several renewable energy projects around the world, most recently in May when it made a US$12m investment in a South African solar energy project.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge