Google and Brookfield Asset Management have announced a 20-year framework agreement for up to 3GW of hydropower to provide electricity to its datacentres.
Initially, the US tech company will buy 670MW from Brookfield’s Holtwood and Safe Harbor dams in Pennsylvania for a price of $3bn. Further extensions to the framework could increase this to 3GW.
The deal also involves Brookfield Renewable. At present, the Canadian company owns some 25GW or renewable capacity.
The deal may mean that the US’ ageing hydroelectricity producers may be in line for modernisation. The 2025 Infrastructure Report Card from the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s dams a grade of D+.
Connor Teskey, president of Brookfield Asset Management, said the agreement showed that hydroelectricity had a role in tech companies’ transition to low carbon energy.
He said: “Our partnership with Google demonstrates the critical role that hydropower can play in helping hyperscale customers meet their energy goals. Delivering power at scale and from a range of sources will be required to meet the growing electricity demands from digitalisation and AI.”
Hydropower is particularly attractive to tech users because it can deliver constant energy, whereas wind and solar are intermittent generators.
Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s head of datacentre energy, commented: “Hydropower is a proven, low‑cost technology, offering dependable, homegrown, carbon‑free electricity that creates jobs and builds a stronger grid for all.”
The agreement includes a commitment to use AI tools to optimise grid operations and improve integration of renewables.
Although Google has been carbon neutral since 2007, it achieved this by purchasing carbon offsets rather than using only sustainable energy. The company is now focused on becoming net zero by 2030.
The Pennsylvania location of the dams reflects Google’s plans to invest $25bn in A datacentres across Pennsylvania and the “PJM region” – the 13 states in northeast America served by the PJM transmission network
In June, Amazon said it would put $20bn into setting up cloud computing and AI innovation campuses in Pennsylvania.
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