Google Strikes Geothermal Deal With Nevada Utility

Google has partnered with Nevada utility NV Energy to develop geothermal energy supply for its data centers.

Under the deal, the amount of electricity produced from geothermal sources on Nevada’s grid would increase from 3.5 MW to 115 MW in six years, Reuters reported, citing Google.

The deal is part of an existing partnership between Google and the Berkshire Hathaway utility in Nevada in the area of low-carbon energy. The partnership is part of Google’s plan to power all of its operations with low-carbon electricity by 2030.

The partnership also yielded something Google called the clean transition tariff, which the company described as “a long-term energy agreement that can facilitate investments into new projects that deliver clean firm capacity to the grid.”

“This allows customers to meet their growing electricity demand with 24/7 CFE (carbon-free energy) through their existing utility relationship and share in the long-term benefits that these projects provide, like increasing the share of clean and reliable power,” the company also said.

Big Tech has been expanding in the data center department recently as artificial intelligence continues to gain popularity. This has prompted forecasts for a slowdown in the energy transition because of the considerable energy consumption rates of these facilities. Yet Big Tech is trying to present itself as a major supporter and champion of the transition, which has spurred a flurry of partnerships and deals for low-carbon energy development.

Geothermal is one of the promising technologies in this space but it is an expensive one at the moment. Partnerships such as the one between Google and NV Energy might advance the technology towards a more affordable cost level, making geothermal more economically viable for broader applications.

Google has ambitions to make its clean transition tariff system more widely used across the U.S. and some of its peers such as Microsoft and Amazon are also taking part in it through deals with power utilities.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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