US: Equinix Signs Power Purchase Agreements that Bring its North American Data Centers to 100% Renewable Energy

Equinix, Inc., the global interconnection and data center company, has announced that it has signed power purchase agreements (PPA) with both an affiliate of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and Invenergy LLC to purchase wind energy in Oklahoma and Texas, respectively, which will cover all Equinix data centers throughout North America.  These agreements will provide a combined 225 megawatts (MW) of capacity, bringing Equinix's total renewable energy coverage in North America to 100% by the end of 2016, and nearly doubling its global renewable energy, moving from 43% to 82%. Both projects will be fully deployed by the end of 2016.

Highlights / Key Facts

• The agreement with a NexEra Energy Resources affiliate includes the purchase of wind energy from the Rush Springs Renewable Generation Facility located in Grady and Stephens Counties, Oklahoma.  The agreement will provide 125 MW of capacity resulting in approximately 556,000 megawatt hours (MWhs) of clean and renewable energy generated annually in Oklahoma and delivered into the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) regional electricity grid.
• The agreement with Invenergy includes the purchase of wind energy from the Wake Wind Energy Facility located in Floyd and Crosby Counties, Texas.  This agreement will provide 100 MW of capacity resulting in approximately 457,000 MWhs of clean and renewable energy generated annually in Texas and delivered into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) regional electricity grid.
• These are the second and third PPA agreements made by Equinix in the last 60 days.  In September the company announced an agreement to purchase 105 megawatts (MWAC)  of new solar power from SunEdison to power its facilities in California.
• Earlier this year Equinix announced its commitment to 100 percent clean and renewable energy for its entire global footprint of 105 data centers located in 33 markets. Through ongoing development of partnerships Equinix continues to deploy innovative new technologies to make this commitment a reality. Most recently it deployed a 342 kWp PV solar system at its SG3 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center  in Singapore and is in the process of installing a 1MW fuel cell system at its Silicon Valley (SV5) data center.

John DiDonato, vice president, wind development, NextEra Energy Resources: "NextEra Energy Resources is pleased to be working with Equinix on this project to help them meet their sustainability goals. In addition to helping Equinix, this project will bring significant economic benefits to Stephens and Grady County."

Craig Gordon, vice president, sales and marketing, Invenergy: "As corporations like Equinix look for ways to reduce their emissions and improve their sustainability goals, Invenergy is committed to providing long-term, clean energy to help them achieve those goals."

Karl Strohmeyer, president, Equinix Americas: "As a global data center leader, with more than 100 facilities across 33 global markets, we truly understand the importance of operating our business in an environmentally sustainable way.  These projects announced today are two significant milestones toward our commitment of reaching 100 percent renewable power across all of our data centers across the globe, and further solidify Equinix's position as a leader in data center sustainability."

About Equinix 

Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most interconnected data centers. In 33 markets across five continents, Equinix is where companies come together to realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and cloud strategies.