Powerex announces agreement to provide 24x7 hourly matching of carbon-free energy to Microsoft
Long-term agreement will help to power Microsoft’s datacenter demand in Washington state.
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Powerex Corp. has signed a long-term agreement with Microsoft for Powerex to deliver carbon-free energy to Microsoft’s new datacenter in Washington state. Powerex will match Microsoft’s hourly datacenter demand with direct deliveries of carbon-free hydro, solar and wind power on a 24x7, year-round basis.
Beginning immediately, Powerex’s new 24x7 Clean Load Service will match deliveries of carbonfree electricity to the hour-to-hour needs of Microsoft’s datacenter. This more stringent approach goes a step further than other arrangements in the industry that match quantities of annual carbon‐free energy deliveries with annual demand.
“We are excited to collaborate with Microsoft, a global technology company that shares our interest in environmental leadership,” said Tom Bechard, President and CEO of Powerex. “Together, we were able to find new solutions that go well beyond what has been achieved to date and reach a significant milestone towards a carbon-free future.”
Deliveries will be verified by an independent third-party and reported as part of Powerex’s Clean Energy Trade Standard – a standard it implemented in 2021 to provide confidence to clean energy purchasers that their purchases represent truly surplus clean supply.
“This agreement with Powerex supports Microsoft’s ambition to have 100% of our electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero carbon energy purchases,” says Brian Janous, Vice President of Energy and Renewables at Microsoft. “Microsoft is one of the largest purchasers of renewable energy in the world. Our hope is that by working with innovative suppliers such as Powerex, we help to advance groundbreaking solutions that support the energy transition.”
Powerex and Microsoft will work together to meet the datacenter’s electricity needs and help to bring new renewable capacity contracted to Microsoft. The first of these new renewable resources will be a 200 MW wind project in the Pacific Northwest, with an expected online date of December 2024. Microsoft has closely collaborated with its utility, Douglas County Public Utility District (PUD), who will perform a critical role in enabling these deliveries to the datacenter.
“As the output from Microsoft’s contracted renewable resource portfolio grows, Powerex’s 24x7 Clean Load Service will increasingly offer a battery-like service,” says Bechard. “During hours that Microsoft’s contracted renewable resources produce more electricity than the datacenter can use, we will take the surplus renewable power, allowing hydro generation to be reduced and water to be conserved for later use. This will enable clean deliveries back to the datacenter in later hours, when Microsoft’s contracted renewable resources produce less electricity than the datacenter needs.”
The agreement between Powerex and Microsoft paves the way for the two companies to further grow their clean energy relationship in the years ahead, including collaborating on the identification and selection of new renewable resources that enable Powerex to work with Microsoft to identify the least cost, best fit renewable resources throughout the western electricity grid.
About Powerex
Powerex Corp. is the exclusive marketer of BC Hydro’s surplus capabilities providing innovative electricity solutions across the West. Powerex’s business consists of trading wholesale power and natural gas, environmental products, ancillary energy services, and financial energy products. Active since 1988, Powerex has over 230 customers and trading partners, including commercial and industrial companies, public power and investor-owned utilities. Powerex is consistently ranked by our customers as an industry-leading provider of wholesale electricity and energyrelated environmental products.
Powerex is a participant in the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP) and has announced its commitment to join Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) Markets+ organized electricity market at its inception. Collectively, WRAP and Markets+ are expected to further strengthen reliability and renewable integration, while also supporting the tracking and reporting of carbon-free deliveries.
For more information visit:
clean24x7.powerex.com
Media Contact:
Meredith Aitken
Meredith.aitken@powerex.com
604.891.501