International. Regarded as a highly sustainable country, Sweden maintains a strong commitment to reducing environmental impact. A mission that his government has materialized with the development of a plan to progressively eliminate dependence on fossil fuels (Fossil Free Sweden).
In this regard, the new Microsoft Data Centers in Sweden will be some of the most advanced and sustainable created to date worldwide, thanks to its avant-garde design, the use of energy from 100% renewable sources and the execution of waste-free operations plans.
Microsoft has been a carbon neutral company since 2012 and since then continues to increase the amount of energy from renewable sources used, whether wind, solar or hydro. Earlier this year, Microsoft President Brad Smith confirmed that, by the end of 2019, the company will reach its goal of powering its data centers with 60 percent renewable energy. To which he also added his intention to get 70 percent by 2023 and his intention to continue moving towards 100%.
"We aim to make our Data Centers in Sweden among the most sustainable in the world and we have the ambition to achieve operations with zero CO2 emissions. The design of the Center we are developing will reinforce Microsoft's ongoing commitment to the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future," said Noelle Walsh, corporate vice president, Cloud Operations and Innovation, Microsoft.
Microsoft will collaborate with Vattenfall, one of Europe's largest producers and distributors of electricity and heating (with the support of its Node Pole team), in providing renewable energy for future Data Centers. The two companies will also work on developing solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of data centers and build new infrastructures that will ensure energy supply to facilities and surrounding areas of Sweden in the coming years. Over time, the new infrastructure will help further reduce the carbon footprint of data centers.
Microsoft and Vattenfall already announced the largest wind power deal in the Netherlands in 2017. Microsoft bought 100% of the power generated at a 180-megawatt wind farm located next to its local data center in the Netherlands. The wind farm is being built and operated by Vattenfall on the Wieringermeer Polder, north of Amsterdam.
The new Data Centers in Sweden will swell the current network of Microsoft European Centers, adding to those already planned in Norway and Switzerland, and those already available in Austria, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Source: Microsoft.
