AirTrunk and power utility CLP Power have announced a renewable energy solution in Hong Kong that will match Microsoft’s data centre electricity consumption with local renewable energy certificates (RECs).

The partnership will see AirTrunk source hourly RECs from CLP Power to provide renewable energy matching at its HKG1 data centre on behalf of its customer Microsoft. The solution will be linked to the West New Territories (WENT) Landfill Gas Power Generation Units of CLP Power – WE Station, a renewable energy project which makes use of gas produced at the landfill site for the generation of power and conversion of waste to energy.

According to AirTrunk, the solution is the first in the APJ region to feature hourly matching of renewable generation to data centre electricity consumption, the first RECs solution linked to an identifiable renewable energy project in Hong Kong and the largest RECs agreement for a data centre since the launch of the CLP RECs programme in 2019.

AirTrunk Chief Technology Officer, Damien Spillane, said, “As we continue to power the cloud for the world’s largest technology companies, we need to manage our impact on grid stability, reliability and resilience, sustainably. Hourly renewable supply and demand matching strategies, like this project with CLP Power and Microsoft, play an important role in laying the foundation for a fully decarbonised grid  across the region, while setting new standards for climate action.”

Microsoft General Manager Energy & Renewables, Brian Janous, added, “By leveraging AirTrunk’s capability and presence in the Hong Kong market, we are able to both secure additional renewable supply in support of meeting our commitment to use 100% renewable energy by 2025, and also take a  meaningful step toward having 100% of our electricity matched by zero-carbon resources all of the time in the region. We believe innovative commercial structures like this with AirTrunk will be key as we  continue to move toward our 100/100/0 commitment.”