Microsoft To Buy Solar Energy In Singapore

Written by: Cai Huiling Created: 07 March 2018

The Single-Largest Solar Energy Portfolio In Singapore To Date

The tech giant, Microsoft, recently announced that it will be entering in agreement to buy solar power from the Sunseap Group in Singapore, the technology company’s first renewable energy deal in Asia, according to reports from Reuters.

Under the landmark 20-year deal, Microsoft will purchase all of the electricity generated from Sunseap’s 60 megawatt-peak solar power project to power all their data operations in Singapore, the software company said in a statement.

This makes the third international renewable energy deal Microsoft has committed to, following two other wind deals announced in Ireland and the Netherlands in 2017, putting the company well on track to exceed their goal of powering 50 percent of its global datacenter load with renewable energy this year. 

Sunseap’s project consists of a vast array of solar panels on hundreds of rooftops across the city-state. This solar project expected to be operational by the end of the year, is the largest rooftop solar project in Singapore and the first rooftop solar portfolio in the country focused on serving datacenter energy consumption. 

“Once operational, the new solar project will bring Microsoft’s total global direct procurement in renewable energy projects to 860 megawatts,” said Christian Belady, general manager, Cloud Infrastructure Strategy and Architecture, Microsoft.

With Microsoft leading the charge in pursuing clean energy strategies and the growth of the local clean energy economy with this massive deal, it will be interesting to see if this move will inspire other companies to follow suit.

Written by: Cai Huiling

Huiling covers a diverse range of topics at Billionaire, fuelled by her passion for environmental sustainability and humanitarian advocacy. In her downtime, she enjoys getting lost in a good book and tending to her urban garden.