US renewable energy company Apex Clean Energy and technology giant Microsoft have signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) that will see the latter acquire electricity generated at the former’s Wheatsborough solar project in the US state of Ohio.
Wheatsborough is expected to have a total power generation capacity of 125MW. Apex initially planned to supply power generated at the project to the local electricity grid, “helping to diversify Ohio’s energy portfolio,” as the company puts it, but following the deal with Microsoft, this electricity will likely be used to power Microsoft facilities, although the technology giant did not specify how the power would be used.
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Apex started constructing the project in August 2023, and building work is currently ongoing, with the developer expecting to commission the solar farm in the first half of 2025. The company also noted in December that it expected module deliveries to begin this month.
“Developing renewable energy projects that are reliable and sustainable is imperative; prioritising equitable deployment will further elevate our industry’s overall impact,” said Apex CEO Ken Young. “This agreement allows Wheatsborough Solar to move beyond the megawatt, creating a lasting impact in the local community and beyond.”
The deal is also notable as it follows a precedent set by the “Microsoft-Volt Energy Utility Environmental Justice Framework”, a set of guiding that aim to ensure PPA deals deliver benefits to local communities and the environment.
The framework takes its name from a 2021 PPA signed between Microsoft and Volt Energy, a minority-owned US solar developer, which included the provision that a portion of the revenue generated by the PPA would be invested into local communities.
The Apex-Microsoft PPA fits this mould, with a percentage of the revenue generated by the PPA to be invested into the Sharing the Power Foundation, and US$125,000 being committed to the Apex Conservation Grant Program to safeguard local wildlife.
Better compliance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles is an increasingly important part of the solar sector, with speakers at the Solar & Storage Live event in the UK last October suggesting that greater attention is being paid to the ethics of solar manufacturers’ supply chains and production processes than ever before.
Similarly, last year, the Solar Stewardship Initiative published an updated ESG standard for European solar companies, and the growth of projects such as Microsoft and Volt’s in the US could help bring some of these principles to the US market.