hanks to a new agreement with Constellation one of Microsoft’s data centres based in Boydton, Virginia, USA, will be powered by up to 35% nuclear energy. The nuclear power will complement Microsoft’s new wind and solar purchases and bring the data centre to operating at close to 100% carbon-free electricity around the clock. Adrian Anderson, general manager of renewable and carbon free energy at Microsoft, commented:
“Our collaboration with Constellation makes real-time matching of regional clean power generation and demand available to all companies that want to advance the energy transition.”
Microsoft will track its environmental performance using Constellation’s hourly carbon-free energy matching platform. Constellation’s Microsoft Azure-based hourly matching software is a relatively new offering for customers looking to match their power demands with regional carbon-free energy around-the-clock.
Prior to the evolution of hourly matching, much of the clean energy which US companies procured to reduce their use of generation from fossil fuels was produced elsewhere, at a different time of day, month or even year. This approach offered no guarantee that clean, carbon-free power was being used. The companies said Constellation and Microsoft had been working collaboratively for several years to pioneer this latest hourly emissions accounting technology.