Internet giant Google has increased its investment in renewable energy to more than $1billion after becoming a partner in a new solar project in California.
The deal marks Google’s 13th investment in the renewables sector in three years, and will see it spend more than $100million in US firm Silver Ridge Power’s 265MW project at Mount Signal.
The solar plant, in Imperial County, is expected to be up and running by next year, is set to generate enough energy to around 80,000 homes.
“Our investment in Mount Signal Solar is a reflection of Google’s ongoing commitment to the renewable energy industry and our strong belief that investing in renewable energy makes business sense,” said Google’s head of corporate finance, Kojo Ako-Asare.
“This is the first time Silver Ridge Power has partnered with a technology company. We appreciate their innovative approach and we hope to see more such partnerships in the future.”
So far the company has invested in solar projects in the US, South Africa and Germany, along with wind energy schemes across America, generating more than 2GW a year.
The Silver Ridge project marks one of the largest investments the company has made, with the company striking a deal with a San Diego utilities provider to sell the generated power for the next 25 years.
“We are pleased to have a world-class partner in Google on our flagship Mount Signal Solar project,” said Silver Ridge chief executive Robert Hemphill.
“We are on schedule to complete the project in 2014 and when completed it will be one of the largest single-axis tracker PV plants in the world.”
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