The project, known as the Mount Signal Solar II project, is located in the territory of San Diego Gas & Electric, near Calexico, California, and just north of the US-Mexico border. It consists of a 150 MW total capacity solar farm which will target data centres including 11 facilities in the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley metro areas, as well as the Equinix global headquarters at Redwood City, California. The deployment will enable Equinix to expand its global use of clean, renewable energy from 30 percent to 43 percent.
“The Mount Signal Solar project is another demonstration of SunEdison's ability to deliver cost effective renewable energy” said Paul Gaynor, executive vice president of SunEdison EMEA and Americas. “Smart companies like Equinix know they can rely on SunEdison to help them save money, meet their sustainability goals, and create valuable jobs in the local community.”
Construction of the solar farm is expected to begin in 2015 with commercial operation commencing in the second half of 2016. It will generate 300,000 MWh per year and will reduce Equinix's carbon footprint by over 180 million lbs of CO2 annually – the equivalent of taking 18,000 passenger cars off of US roads each year. Equinix will also receive Green-e certified renewable energy certificates from SunEdison to bridge the approximately 12 months from contract execution to project completion.
Equinix announced its commitment to 100 percent clean and renewable energy earlier in the year, covering its entire global footprint of 105 data centres located in 33 markets. The company is continuing to deploy innovative new technologies to make this commitment a reality, including a 342 kWp PV solar system deployed at its SG3 International Business Exchange data centre in Singapore. It is also in the process of installing a 1 MW fuel cell system, fuelled by biogas, at its Silicon Valley data centre.
Additionally, Equinix has joined the Rocky Mountain Institute's Business Renewables Center (BRC) which is a collaborative platform aimed at accelerating corporate renewable energy procurement. SunEdison is a founding project developer member of the BRC.
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