Google and BlackRock Partner to Boost Solar Energy in Taiwan - Energy Digital
Google and BlackRock Partner to Boost Solar Energy in Taiwan | Energy Magazine
Google and BlackRock Partner to Boost Solar Energy in Taiwan
Google and BlackRock have announced a significant partnership to advance solar energy in Taiwan.
This collaboration involves a capital investment in New Green Power (NGP), a Taiwanese solar developer and BlackRock portfolio company. The aim is to develop a 1GW solar pipeline, accelerating the clean energy transition in Taiwan and the wider Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
Amanda Peterson Corio,
“This investment will support a 1GW pipeline of solar development in Taiwan.”
Impact on local and regional operations
Google plans to leverage this solar resource to power its operations in Taiwan, including data centres and local offices.
“What’s more, as part of our partnership, Google may offer a portion of this solar resource to our semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers in Taiwan as well as procure directly to supply our local data centre with new solar energy,” Amanda added
This effort builds on six years of work to open Taiwan's electricity market to corporate end-users. The amendments to Taiwan’s electricity act have paved the way for 3.5GW of power purchase agreements (PPAs), setting an example for other markets.
“This is just another example of how we are focusing on collaboration across the industry and around the world to innovate models for development to decarbonise our electric grids,” Amanda said
Google is committed to reaching net-zero emissions across all operations and value chains by 2030. This includes a goal to run on 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where they operate. Achieving this requires both commercial efforts and broader changes in energy systems.
Amanda continued: “The path to reach these goals is challenging and requires both commercial efforts and broader energy systems change.”
Overcoming regional challenges
The investment addresses the unique challenges APAC countries face with new carbon-free energy. Many regions struggle with land constraints, low availability of scalable wind and solar resources, and high construction costs. Therefore, as Amanda said, fossil fuels — including imported coal and natural gas — generate nearly 85% of Taiwan's electricity.
To counter these obstacles, companies can play a crucial role in developing new strategies to increase renewable energy supplies and promote emerging technologies.
The investment in NGP will provide development capital for its 1GW solar projects and catalyse further equity and debt financing.
“We expect to procure up to 300MW of solar energy from this pipeline through PPAs and the associated energy attribute certificates to help meet electricity demand from our data centre campus, cloud region and office operations in Taiwan,” Amanda said
Unlocking regional decarbonisation
David Giordano, BlackRock’s Global Head of Climate Infrastructure, added: “As we witness growth in demand for digital services, powered by AI and data-centric technologies, it becomes imperative to invest in clean energy."
This partnership with Google underscores their shared commitment to driving a low-carbon economy.
Kate Brandt, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer, continued: “This investment will help Google decarbonise our operations and value chain in Taiwan, while paving the way for new partnership models that can accelerate the clean energy transition globally.”
The collaboration builds on more than five years of efforts to accelerate the clean energy transition through market and policy development across APAC. Google’s recent initiatives in Australia and Japan are part of their broader strategy to achieve their 2030 carbon-free energy goal.
Google is also a founding member of the Asia Clean Energy Coalition (ACEC), which brings together energy buyers, suppliers and policymakers to improve the policy and regulatory environment for corporate renewable electricity purchasing. As Amanda emphasised: “Coalitions like ACEC are essential to drive the system-level transformation required for a carbon-free future in Asia Pacific.”
This partnership between Google and BlackRock is set to catalyse significant progress in the clean energy transition across APAC, demonstrating the pivotal role of corporate collaboration and investment in overcoming regional challenges and advancing towards a sustainable future.
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