Our first geothermal energy deal in Asia
Since Google signed the first corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) for solar power in Taiwan in 2019, we’ve been working to accelerate clean energy development and meet electricity demand from our local data centers and offices.
Today, we’re announcing another milestone by signing the first corporate PPAs for geothermal energy in Taiwan, and our first in the region. The initial projects — developed by global geothermal developer Baseload Capital — will add 10 megawatts (MW) of “always on” power to the grid and help catalyze Taiwan’s geothermal market. Building on our recent partnership to support a 1 gigawatt (GW) pipeline of solar development in Taiwan, these geothermal PPAs reflect our commitment to advance a suite of energy solutions to support our local data center and operations with clean electricity, while opening up pathways to scale geothermal development across the Asia-Pacific region and globally.
Addressing local challenges to 24/7 clean energy
Geothermal, which taps into underground heat to generate clean electricity, is an “around-the-clock” energy source with significant potential for places like Taiwan. With its unique geological position along the Pacific Ring of Fire, Taiwan has access to substantial geothermal resources, offering stable and reliable baseload power to complement variable renewable energy technologies like solar and wind.
This long-term partnership with Baseload Capital, which includes an equity investment in the company, represents our latest step to accelerate the deployment of geothermal as a 24/7 clean energy technology across Asia Pacific and globally. We are working to develop and commercialize the next generation of geothermal technologies through our enhanced geothermal project with Fervo Energy, and to uncover the potential of geothermal around the world with our subsurface data partnership with Project Innerspace. In the Asia-Pacific region, we are also partnering to advance new research into the development of geothermal energy in Australia.
Catalyzing untapped geothermal markets
Since 2019, Baseload Capital’s subsidiary, Baseload Power Taiwan, has been actively conducting local geothermal resource exploration, engaging closely with local communities and working with the Taiwan government to improve the regulatory and permitting framework for geothermal energy. Google’s support of these geothermal projects will help build the local workforce and expertise, supply chain and infrastructure to unlock lower costs and faster deployment of future projects.
These projects will also contribute to Taiwan’s goal to install 6 GW of geothermal capacity by 2050. Building on our longstanding collaboration with government and utilities in Taiwan to advance local growth of renewables, we’ll continue to work across these sectors on the market development and innovation needed to now help scale geothermal resources.
We’re also excited about the potential to replicate these first projects in markets across the Asia-Pacific region, such as Japan and Indonesia, as well as other places where we have electricity demand globally. This partnership is an important milestone in Google’s clean energy journey, and in our efforts to bring the benefits of reliable, clean power to every region where we operate.
