Brookfield Asset Management and its clean energy platform Brookfield Renewable announced today a new 5-year global renewable energy framework agreement with Microsoft, for the development of more than 10.5 GW of new clean energy capacity in the U.S. and Europe.

The announcement marks the largest-ever corporate clean energy purchase deal, and is nearly 8 times larger than the largest single corporate PPA ever signed, according to the companies. According to BloombergNEF, a total of 46 GW of corporate PPAs were signed in all of 2023.

Under the new agreement, Microsoft will gain access to a pipeline of new renewable energy capacity to support the growing demand for cloud services at home and at work, contributing to the tech giant’s clean energy and sustainability goals. In 2021, Microsoft launched a “100/100/0 clean energy goal,” with the company targeting having 100% of its electricity consumption, 100% percent of the time, matched by purchases from zero carbon energy sources by 2030, adding to its prior commitment to use 100% renewable energy in its buildings and datacenters globally by 2025. Microsoft has also committed to become carbon negative by 2030, and to cover 100% of its electricity consumption in its buildings and datacenters globally with renewable energy by 2025.

Adrian Anderson, General Manager of Renewables, Carbon Free Energy, and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) at Microsoft said:

“Microsoft wants to use our influence and purchasing power to create lasting positive impact for all electricity consumers. This collaboration with Brookfield drives the innovative development of more diverse energy grids globally and contributes to delivering our goal of achieving 100% of our electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero carbon energy purchases by 2030.”

According to the companies, the scale of the new capacity, with Brookfield delivering over 10.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity between 2026 and 2030, will contribute to the decarbonization of the grid and accelerate the global shift to renewable energy solutions within the cloud industry. The companies added that the deal will focus on solar and wind, as well as other new or impactful carbon free energy generation technologies.

The agreement includes the potential to increase its scope to deliver additional renewable energy capacity within the U.S. and Europe, as well as Asia-Pacific, India, and Latin America, and provides an incentive for Brookfield to build a large portfolio of new renewable energy projects over the coming years.

Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable and President of Brookfield Asset Management said:

“As the global trend of digitalization and the adoption of AI continues to drive growth in demand for electricity, we are thrilled to collaborate with Microsoft to support their customer demand with the build-out of over 10.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity.”