Google: Google signs major solar PPA in Spain

Google has announced that it has signed a 12-year PPA with German energy infrastructure developer ib vogt to procure solar energy in the province of Zamora in Spain. ib vogt began work on the 149MWp Garnacha solar power plant in September, which is expected to commence commercial operations in October 2023. According to the company, the solar project, which saw an investment of €118 million ($123.4m), covers an area of 224 hectares of land, offering more than 270,000 solar panels. It secured €90 million ($94.2m) in long-term project financing provided by Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) and Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) to secure financial close in August 2022.

"We are pleased to have broken ground for yet another major project in Spain, contributing towards the country's own renewable electricity targets and doing our part to power the energy transition," said Anton Milner, CEO of ib vogt. "We are also excited to be working together with Google and contributing to their important environmental objectives"

Marc Oman, infrastructure & energy principal at Google, said the company is "delighted" to work with ib vogt to add new clean energy to the grid while "significantly improving Google's carbon footprint in Spain." Oman outlined that by 2025, with help from ib vogt's Garnacha project, Google's Spanish cloud region and offices will operate on carbon-free energy nearly 90 percent of the time.

Heiko Ludwig, global head of structured finance at NORD/LB, commented: "The development of ib vogt's Garnacha power project and the successful closing of the project financing is a great example of the combined power of different industries like renewable energy, global tech and financial services working together to achieve a contribution towards the green transition of the economy. We are very proud to play a part in this and are glad to continue NORD/LB's growth in the promising Iberian renewable energy market."

Meanwhile, Bartholomew White, European head of structure finance at Santander CIB, said: "We are proud to be supporting our clients through the green transition and look forward to many more projects to help us achieve our net zero targets and continue reinforcing our leadership in the renewables sector. Congratulations ib vogt and everyone involved in the execution of this project."