Microsoft will purchase 100 percent of the wind energy
generated by project in Wieringermeer Polder
AMSTERDAM, Nov. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday,
Microsoft Corp. announced its second European wind project in
the Netherlands with Vattenfall,
one of Europe's largest
electricity and heat retail and producers. Microsoft will purchase
100 percent of the wind energy generated from a repowered and
expanded wind farm that is adjacent to its local datacenter
operations in the Netherlands. The
180-megawatt wind farm will be constructed and operated by Nuon,
part of Vattenfall in the Wieringermeer Polder, near Amsterdam.
Vattenfall will begin construction of the expansion in 2018, and
expects it to be operational effective 2019. Once completed, the
Wieringermeer wind farm will be one of the largest onshore wind
farms in the Netherlands, almost
three times bigger than the Princess Alexia wind farm inaugurated
in 2013.
"We are very glad and proud to be able to support Microsoft's
transition toward using fossil-free energy in its datacenter
operations," said Magnus Hall,
president and CEO of Vattenfall. "This deal is completely in line
with our strategy to help all our customers power their lives in
ever smarter ways and free from fossil fuel within one
generation."
This wind farm will be located adjacent to Microsoft's
Netherlands datacenter operations
that serves as a regional hub to deliver Microsoft Cloud services
to customers across Europe, the
Middle East, and Africa, as well as global customers. With the
latest expansion completed in 2015, the datacenter is a
technologically advanced facility built to reduce water, power and
energy use.
The proximity of the wind farm to Microsoft's datacenters in
the Netherlands made it
particularly attractive, as this will allow the energy generated
from these turbines to directly power the datacenter with local,
clean wind energy. Matching production and consumption of renewable
energy so closely unlocks great transmission efficiencies.
"Investing in local clean energy to power our local datacenter
is a win-win for our business and the
Netherlands," said Brian
Janous, general manager of energy at Microsoft. "Microsoft
is committed to bringing new renewable energy sources online to
power our datacenters. By focusing on local projects, we're able to
create new economic opportunities, reduce carbon emissions and make
progress on our global commitment to increase the amount of clean
energy used to power the Microsoft Cloud."
This project builds on the existing partnership between
Vattenfall and Microsoft. Vattenfall relies on Microsoft Azure and
other cloud-based tools to digitally transform its business
operations, including renewable energy operations. Vattenfall is
implementing advanced analytics powered by Azure with many new use
cases, including new analytics for Vattenfall Wind.
"There's a virtuous circle in greening the cloud enabled by this
kind of deal," Janous said. "Our powerful cloud tools help
companies operate more effectively and efficiently. In the case of
Vattenfall and other energy companies, this strengthens their
business and creates new opportunities — and that means new
opportunities for Microsoft to partner with them to buy new, clean
energy to power our cloud, which then powers our customers' cloud
services."
Nuon plans to expand the project to eventually include 100
windmills. That will allow the production of approximately 1.3
billion kWh of renewable electricity. Nuon has partnered with key
local actors, ECN and the Windcollectief Wieringermeer, to lease
lands and operate these turbines. This additional generation
capacity will not become available until 2020.
Nuon CEO Peter Smink commented,
"We power climate-smarter living and help datacenters use locally
produced renewable energy. This is not only an important investment
in Dutch renewable energy, but also a new step in the greening of
IT in the Netherlands."
The agreement will help support the continued long-term growth
of the Microsoft Cloud services delivered from the Netherlands, which is one of 42 Azure
regions announced across the globe, and is also one of the first
regions to offer the preview of Azure Availability Zones. It also
builds on recent local investments in sustainability and energy in
the country. Earlier this year, Microsoft sponsored smart-energy
startups at the Dutch accelerator Rockstart by providing
collaboration and access to business development, data analytics
and the Internet of Things.
"This is Microsoft's second wind energy project in Europe, closely following a new Irish wind
farm announced about a month ago," said Christian Belady, general
manager, Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure and Operations, Microsoft.
"Once completed, this wind project will bring Microsoft's total
global direct procurement in renewable energy projects to almost
800 megawatts. With these wind projects, we're making considerable
progress against the corporate clean energy commitments we set for
ourselves in 2016."
About Nuon
Nuon, part of Vattenfall, generates and supplies electricity,
energy-related products and services, gas, heat and cooling. Nuon
aims at a fossil-free supply of energy within one generation;
clean, reliable and affordable. With its 3,600 employees, Nuon
services approximately 2 million private and business
customers.
About Vattenfall
Vattenfall is a European energy company with approximately
20,000 employees. Together the company produce heat and electricity
from the energy sources; wind, hydro, biomass, solar, nuclear, coal
and gas. To continuously and reliably deliver energy to our society
we need a variety of energy sources.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is the leading platform and
productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and
its mission is to empower every person and every organization on
the planet to achieve more.
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