Microsoft has agreed to a deal which the company describes as the largest single electricity purchase agreement signed between two corporate partners. Partnering with Brookfield Asset Management, Microsoft is investing more than $10 billion to provide power for its artificial intelligence operations at data centers.
The funds will go toward building solar farms, wind turbines and other forms of carbon-free energy sources in the United States and Europe to procure 10.5 gigawatts of clean power. This allocation of energy is substantial, equivalent to powering nearly 8 million homes.
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Microsoft’s deal comes at a time when the energy consumption of data centers is projected to significantly contribute to total U.S. electricity demand in the coming years. Analysts predict that by 2030, data centers could consume enough energy to power a third of the nation. Meeting the electricity demand from data centers in the U.S. over the next five years will require the energy equivalent of 40 new nuclear plants.
Currently, the largest data center market globally is situated in Northern Virginia, where 3.5 gigawatts of electricity are consumed. Microsoft’s plan to secure clean power for its facilities triples this figure, as the company prepares for the amount of energy which will be required to support data centers powering advanced technologies like AI.
