Akamai’s aggregate Texas area data center operations will soon be powered by eight MW of renewable energy - or up to 192 MWh of power per day - generated by the Seymour Hills Wind Farm in northwestern Texas. This represents approximately 7 percent of the company’s global power load. The wind farm is part of Akamai’s commitment to source renewable energy for 50 percent of its global network operations by 2020.
“It used to be that only large companies could purchase renewable energy,” said Noam Freedman, senior vice president, networks at Akamai. “But now, widely distributed organizations like Akamai can buy renewable energy in amounts that suit their needs. By the end of 2019, we expect to have another wind farm and a solar array in operation, bringing our total to 45 MW of sustainable power.”
The Seymour Hills development has 12 wind turbines and at its full operation will create 30 MW of sustainably sourced energy. It is part of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) which manages the flow of electric power to more than 25 million Texas customers -- representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on the electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and 650+ generation units. The Seymour Hills project inclusion in ERCOT means that Akamai is generating power on the same grid that powers its operations in the Dallas metro area. In other words, Akamai feeds power onto the grid in which it resides, making these data center operations carbon-neutral and fully renewable.
“ENGIE is committed to providing clean, renewable energy for corporate customers like Akamai, whose pivotal leadership will help drive the transition to zero carbon emissions,” said Emily Cohen, vice president of commercial strategy for U.S. wind development at ENGIE North America, the owner of the project.
Akamai voluntarily shares data pertaining to its climate change programs and activities to The Corporate Disclosure Project and in 2018 received an A- for its Climate Change activities.
