Equinix has signed a new wind Power Purchase Agreement with French renewable power producer Neoen in Finland.
Björkliden wind farm in Finland. Credit: Prokon Wind Energy website
Equinix has signed a new wind Power Purchase Agreement with French renewable power producer Neoen in Finland. Under the 10-year deal, Neoen and project developer Prokon will supply electricity from at least 42MW of wind capacity from the 53MW Lumivaara wind park currently under development to Equinix to power its Helsinki data centers.
This is the second PPA signed between the three companies this year. In January 2022 Equinix signed another 10-year deal to procure 85% of the energy produced by the 35MW Björkliden wind farm. The project farm will have seven wind turbines and with a total capacity of at least 35MW. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023, with commissioning to follow in 2024.
Equinix currently operates five data centres in Finland, located in the Helsinki-Espoo area, and is planning a hyperscale facility in the city under its xScale brand. The company has pledged to use renewable energy across its entire portfolio of 220+ data centres globally by 2030.
Neoen said this deal is the seventh PPA the company has signed in Finland, taking its secured capacity in the country to nearly 600MW. Last month Equinix announced it had extended its district heating agreement in Helsinki with local energy company Helen. The extension of the agreement enables Helen to use the additional waste heat generated from Equinix facilities in Suvilahti and Viikinmäki, known as HE3 and HE5 respectively, and distribute it to benefit Helsinki residents.
Equinix first partnered with Helen using data centre heat in the latter’s district heating network in Kanavaranta to heat homes in Helsinki back in 2010. Sami Holopainen, CEO of Equinix Finland said, “Helen and Equinix are two of the first companies that brought data center district heating to the city of Helsinki and I am extremely proud to be able to continue that long-held relationship with the addition of these district heating projects to two of our most innovative data centers.”
Timo Aaltonen, Helen’s SVP, Operations and Asset Management, added: “Our long-term partnership with Equinix is an example of groundbreaking projects data center companies can embark on… With Equinix’s waste heat, we are able to warm up several thousand households in the greater Helsinki area.”
