Akamai’s long term commitment to Texas wind farm demonstrates innovation for companies with smaller loads
Akamai Technologies, the world’s largest and most trusted cloud delivery platform, recently invested in an 80 megawatt wind farm in Texas through a long-term power purchase agreement. This is the latest chapter in Akamai’s long-term approach to decarbonizing their operations. 3Degrees (originally Origin Climate) has been working with Akamai for the past several years to build and implement their renewable energy strategy.
“3Degrees was instrumental in executing our first long-term investment in renewable energy,” said Dr. Nicola Peill-Moelter, Akamai Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability. “Their knowledge of power markets, financial acumen, and focus on helping us meet our goals have made them a trusted partner as we work toward achieving 50 percent renewables by 2020.”
This transaction demonstrates that companies with small, distributed energy loads can use power purchase agreements as part of their sustainability strategy to maximize impact, just like larger energy users. Akamai’s offtake – which represents its energy load in Texas – is a minor portion of this project, but their commitment was instrumental in getting it financed and built.
“For the past several years, the corporate push for new renewable projects has come from some of the largest companies with the highest energy use,” says Erin Craig, vice president of the 3Degrees energy and climate practice. “What Akamai has shown is that there are ways for those with smaller loads to facilitate new renewable projects in the US.”
