Microsoft has signed a deal to use power from GE Renewable Energy’s wind farm and battery storage facility in Ireland to support the firm’s datacentres and cloud services.
The US tech giant said the move will pave the way for it to acquire an “Irish energy supply licence” from GE that will allow Microsoft to “easily grow and invest in renewable energy in Ireland over time”.
Microsoft has signed a 15-year agreement to purchase 100% of the power from GE’s 37MW Tullahennel wind farm in County Kerry.
In addition, Microsoft said it would with GE in testing how each wind turbine’s integrated battery can be used to capture and store excess energy and provide it back to the grid as needed. Microsoft also signed an agreement with Dublin-based energy trading company ElectroRoute that will provide energy trading services to Microsoft.
The Tullahennel project is “the first direct deployment of battery-turbine integration in Europe”, Microsoft said. “The battery-based energy storage is expected to add more capacity to the Irish grid and help support the growing demand for Microsoft cloud services and datacentres from Ireland.”
