Energix Renewables, an Arlington developer of solar energy farms, has struck a long-term strategic partnership with Google under which the tech giant will help fund Energix's projects in exchange for renewable energy it can use to power its data centers and offices.
Google will help provide funding to Energix, a U.S. division of Israel-based Energix Group, until 2030 with an option to extend the agreement, the companies said in a joint announcement this week. Energix will then supply Google with electricity and so-called Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) it generates from its solar sites, which Google can then use to offset its own carbon footprint or sell on a clean energy marketplace.
The companies did not disclose the size of Google's investment or the number of solar projects it will fund. Energix did not make an en executive available to discuss the investment and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Energix Group CEO Asa Levinger said the agreement positions the U.S. subsidiary to develop projects that will generate 1,500 megawatts of solar electricity — enough to power about 250,000 homes annually — in the next two to three years.
To put 1,500 megawatts into context, consider that Energix Renewables last year received $516 million in financing to develop six projects in Virginia and Pennsylvania capable of delivering 416 megawatts of power.
For Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), the deal with Energix Renewables is the latest of several investments it's made in the solar energy space as part of a broader mission to produce zero net emissions by 2030. Earlier this week, Google made a tax equity investment into an 800-megawatt solar project in Illinois under development by Swift Current Energy, a Boston electricity provider.
"There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to decarbonizing our electricity grids and no one company can do it on their own," Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of data center energy at Google, said in a statement, "This type of collaboration is essential as we continue to progress towards our ambition to run on 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where we operate every hour of every day."
Energix entered the U.S. market in 2016 and since then has invested nearly $1 billion in solar facilities. The company, a Washington Business Journal Inno on Fire honoree in 2023, established its U.S. headquarters at 2311 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington in 2020 but quickly outgrew the space and moved to a larger office at 1201 Wilson Blvd. in Rosslyn last year.
Morgan Stanley & Co. served as Energix's financial adviser in the negotiations with Google.
