Microsoft Signs Up For 100 MW Solar Plant

• Amplus Solar has earned Microsoft as a corporate procurer of solar power from its 100 MW solar power plant
• It is currently developing the large scale solar facility in the state of Rajasthan in India
• Microsoft and Petronas will also collaborate on developing a Digital Sustainability Core platform to use digital technology & AI to record, report and reduce emissions

Global technology behemoth Microsoft has entered into a long term solar power purchase agreement with Amplus Solar, a subsidiary of Malaysia's Petronas, to source power from a 100 MW solar project in India's Rajasthan.

Amplus Solar is currently developing the facility in the desert state which Microsoft says will help it as it aims to have 100% renewable energy for all its global operations by 2025, including for datacenters, buildings and campuses. Petronas stepped into renewables in 2020 with the acquisition of Amplus Energy Solutions from I Squared Capital.

At the same time, both Microsoft and Petronas have agreed to collaborate to co-innovate digital solutions to help the latter in its decarbonization efforts. Under this arrangement, they plan to build an intelligent platform powered by data and artificial intelligence (AI) while establishing a unified sustainability data hub to record, report and reduce emissions.

It will be the energy industry's 1^st Digital Sustainability Core which they argue will drive the effective application of digital technology to power environmental sustainability.

"This strategic partnership will not only contribute to our own sustainability goals, but it also presents us the opportunity to apply the latest digital technology to support Petronas transition to a more sustainable future," said Microsoft Malaysia Managing Director K Raman.

Microsoft was the 2^nd largest corporate procurer of renewable energy in 2021 according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) (see Over 31 GW Corporate Clean Energy PPAs In 2021).