The massive project will output 1.6GW of solar power upon startup, enough to power 315,000 homes.
Google has struck a deal to purchase a major solar project's entire electrical output to offset its fossil fuel emissions, The Financial Times reports. The search giant will take 100 percent of the initial output from Steel River Energy Center in Arkansas once it comes online in 2029, amounting to 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of solar power and 2GW of battery storage — enough to power 315,000 homes.
Google will pay a fixed cost for the electricity from the solar plant, but won't use it directly. Instead, it will draw from the grid powered by a mix of coal, nuclear, renewables and natural gas, along with its own on-site power (typically gas turbines and engines).
Energy from the Steel River Energy Center solar project will form part of that grid mix. Once completed, the project will supply 2.45GW of solar power and 2.9GWh of battery energy storage. The first two phases (out of three) received $3.5 billion in financing and prioritized US-manufactured steel and solar panels.
Google's electricity use rose 37 percent last year, which pushed up its grid-based emissions by the same amount. Other tech giants like Meta and Amazon also saw massive leaps in energy consumption due to data centers powering AI. Much of that has been powered fossil fuel sources that have further pushed up CO2 emissions in a rapidly warming planet. The recent heat waves across Europe would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change, scientists said last month.
Tech giants have looked at clean energy projects to offset that fossil fuel power, a controversial practice that some experts say isn't effective. Meta recently purchased the entire electricty output (200MW) of another solar plant in Texas, while Amazon recently agreed to buy out the troubled 1.2GW Sunstone solar and battery project in Oregon.