Google hopes to purchase renewable energy in Taiwan for its data center in Changhua County, a company official said yesterday at the New Energy Leadership Forum in Taipei.
“Google has two data centers in Asia, one in Singapore and one in Taiwan. We have not purchased any renewable energy in Taiwan so far,” said Marsden Hanna, Google’s head for global energy policy and markets.
Hanna said the company’s long-term goal is for each of its data centers, including the one in Taiwan, to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy.
Google initially planned to purchase renewable energy from state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), which has a monopoly in the nation’s electricity market. However, the company turned its back on Taipower, saying the energy provided by the utility is not “green” enough to satisfy its requirements.
Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) yesterday said the government is still discussing details of the green energy deal with Google. Lee said the US search engine giant has a strong demand for renewable energy in the long term.
“Google has rejected the proposal to invest in power generation at local industrial zones, as the company wants to focus on its core business,” Lee said.
To meet Google’s standards, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is planning to submit a draft amendment to the Electricity Act (電業法) to the Executive Yuan.
The draft aims to liberalize and privatize the nation’s power industry, helping private power suppliers enter the green energy market.
However, the draft has not been forwarded due to objections from the Taiwan Power Labor Union.
“We are trying to find other solutions,” Lee said. “It still takes a new market structure for the local power industry [to solve the problem].”
Lee said he hopes the draft can be passed into law as soon as possible, without giving a clear schedule.
Google has committed to purchasing more than 2.2 gigawatts of renewable energy, making it the largest non-utility purchaser of renewable energy in the world.
The company has also committed to a nearly US$2.5 billion investment in renewable energy projects, its Web site showed.
In April, Google announced a funding plan for the Center for Resource Solutions to create certificates for renewable power in Asia.
The nonprofit center said it supports expansion of renewable energy market infrastructure throughout Asia, with initial efforts focused on advancing renewable energy purchasing options in Taiwan.
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