New Delhi

Equinix Inc has signed its first power purchase agreement (PPA) in India with CleanMax to develop 33 megawatt (MW) renewable energy projects in Maharashtra.

Under the agreement, the parties will collaborate to build a 33 MW captive power plant in Maharashtra. This partnership will provide renewable energy sufficient to match the consumption of Equinix’s growing portfolio of data centres in Mumbai and support the nation’s renewable energy target.

Following a detailed evaluation process by the Equinix global management team, CleanMax was chosen by Equinix as a partner for its decarbonisation efforts. Following commencement of power supply to Equinix’s facility in Maharashtra, CleanMax intends to explore broader sustainability solutions for the digital infrastructure company’s upcoming AI-ready data centres across India and the globe.  

The captive power projects, which comprise 26.4 MWp of solar capacity and 6.6 MW of wind capacity, is set to become operational in phases in 2025. Once fully operational, this project will provide renewable energy coverage for Equinix’s International Business ExchangeTM (IBX®) data centres in Mumbai.

By investing in both solar and wind energy, Equinix aims to maximise the usage of renewable energy to address the rising demand for digital infrastructure driven by increasing AI adoption in Mumbai. This investment also demonstrates Equinix’s long-term commitment to sustainability and its proactive approach to integrating renewable energy into the grids where it operates.

PPAs are an effective way for data centres to procure renewable energy and contribute to the expansion of renewable energy sources within local markets.

Equinix is increasingly focused on expanding the breadth and quality of its renewables portfolio. Earlier in 2024, the company signed PPAs in Australia and Singapore. With the addition of this new PPA in India, Equinix has now executed a total of 23 PPAs globally.

These agreements are expected to contribute over 3,100,000 megawatt hours (MWhs) of renewable energy annually to local grids across the US, Australia, France, Finland, India, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Singapore once operational.

In addition, Equinix’s Energy Efficiency program focuses on reducing the energy consumption of its infrastructure which can be monitored through a reduction in Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). Globally, Equinix invested $77.5 million in energy efficiency projects in 2023, reducing annual energy consumption by 66,862 MWh and improving PUE by 8.8per cent year over year.

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