Microsoft to buy solar power from Singapore public buildings

MICROSOFT Corp has agreed to buy solar power generated by panels on hundreds of public housing and government-owned buildings in Singapore in a bid to inch closer to its climate goals.

The tech giant will buy 100 per cent of the energy exported to the grid from the SolarNova 8 project, owned by EDP Renewables, the Madrid-based company said on Tuesday (Aug 27). SolarNova is the largest solar project in Singapore, and EDP Renewables was awarded phase 8 of the government-initiated programme in February.

Microsoft has faced setbacks in meeting its ambitious goal to become carbon-negative by the end of the decade, reporting a 30 per cent rise in emissions last year from 2020 levels in one of the first concrete examples of how rising investment in artificial intelligence can hinder efforts to cut pollution. The company has since ramped up efforts to reach its climate targets.

Microsoft will buy all the renewable energy exported to the grid from the SolarNova 8 project, which can produce as much as 200 megawatts but will use some of that to power the buildings, in a 20-year offtake agreement. It’s the second deal between the two companies in Singapore. 

The SolarNova programme will altogether generate about 420 gigawatt-hours of power a year, or about 5 per cent of Singapore’s total energy consumption. SolarNova 8 is the largest phase.