Microsoft Partners with Brookfield Asset Management to Power Data Centers with Renewable Energy

Microsoft has signed an agreement with Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management that will see the latter develop wind and solar farms with the capacity of up to 10.5 gigawatts of renewable energy, the companies disclosed on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Microsoft has committed to invest over $10 billion for the project, according to a Financial Times report—although neither Microsoft nor Brookfield disclosed the financial terms of the agreement. Under the agreement, Brookfield is expected to deliver 10.5 gigawatts of renewable energy for Microsoft in the United States and Europe between 2026 and 2030. 

According to the companies, the deal is the largest single electricity purchase agreement entered between two corporate parties. The Northern Virginia data center which is the largest in the world consumes 3.5 gigawatts of electricity. Therefore, the new project will be three times larger than the consumption capacity of that data center.

“As the global trend of digitalization and the adoption of AI continues to drive growth in demand for electricity, we are thrilled to collaborate with Microsoft to support their customer demand with the build-out of over 10.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity,” said Connor Tesky, CEO of Brookfield Renewable and President of Brookfield Asset Management.

“This first-of-its-kind agreement, which is almost eight times larger than the largest single corporate PPA ever signed, is a testament to our ability to reliably deliver clean power solutions at scale to our corporate partners and accelerate the energy transition.”

The scope of the Microsoft and Brookfield partnership may increase over time

According to the companies, the scope of the deal may expand with time to include the production of additional energy capacity in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and India. In addition to solar and wind, the deal will explore new carbon-free technologies.

“Microsoft wants to use our influence and purchasing power to create lasting positive impact for all electricity consumers,” said Adrian Anderson, General Manager of Renewables, Carbon Free Energy, and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). 

“This collaboration with Brookfield drives the innovative development of more diverse energy grids globally and contributes to delivering our goal of achieving 100% of our electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero-carbon energy purchases by 2030.”

According to a press release by Brookfield, the agreement gives Microsoft access to a pipeline of new renewable energy capacity to support the growing energy demand by cloud-based services. This is exacerbated by the expansion of battery and semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., as well as powering the country’s growing fleet of electric vehicles. The agreement will provide Brookfield with the incentive to expand its portfolio of new renewable energy projects in the coming years.