Google has taken a stake in Taiwan's New Green Power (NGP) and has the option to purchase up to 300 megawatts of renewable energy from the BlackRock fund-owned company. This initiative is part of Google's efforts to reduce its carbon emissions and those of its suppliers.

Amid increasing pressure from investors to cut greenhouse gas emissions, tech companies have been setting ambitious targets. Google's goal is to operate entirely on carbon-free energy. However, the rising demand for data-processing capacity, especially for artificial intelligence, has led to an increase in emissions.

Taiwan, a key location for Google's cloud technology operations with a data center and offices, generates nearly 85% of its power from fossil fuels, according to Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's Global Head of Data Center Energy. The investment in NGP aims to support the development of a large-scale solar energy infrastructure in Taiwan.

Decarbonizing regions like Asia Pacific poses challenges due to less developed infrastructure and restrictions on corporate green power purchases. NGP, owned by a BlackRock Climate Infrastructure-managed fund, is a leading solar developer and operator in Taiwan, stated David Giordano, BlackRock's Global Head of Climate Infrastructure.

Google and BlackRock did not disclose the size of the equity stake in NGP. However, Corio mentioned that the investment is expected to facilitate equity and debt financing for NGP's 1-gigawatt solar energy pipeline. Taiwan aims to reach 20 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2025 and up to 80 gigawatts by 2050.

In addition to using the solar power for its operations, Google plans to provide some of it to its suppliers and manufacturers in the region. This move will help Google reduce its Scope 3 emissions, which are linked to its value chain, Corio explained.