Google has announced that it will make an additional investment of €3 billion in its data centres across Europe, although that money will miss the UK as it has chosen to expand its existing European sites. 

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, announced the news at a press conference in Finland, where the Hamina data centre is located. At the press conference he confirmed that its Hamina data centre will receive an additional €600 million of investment, bringing Google’s total investment at the site to €2 billion. 

Other sites that could be due a windfall include data centres in the Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium, although Google hasn’t detailed exactly how much each site has been allocated. 

Increased reliance on renewables

In addition to the increased investment in its European data centres, Google is also committing to a greater reliance on renewable energy. In fact, the firm says that it plans on spending more than $2 billion on renewables, a sum it says is the largest in corporate history. 

That money will go towards 18 new energy deals for 1,600MW of power, and will include a mix of both wind and solar energy. Under the plans, Google will be doubling its global solar portfolio, with investments in solar farms in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. 

“Sustainability has been one of Google’s core values from our earliest days. Over the years we’ve worked hard to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations, build products with people and planet in mind, and drive change at scale through our supply chains,” said CEO Sundar Pichai in a statement.

Google’s increased investment in renewables comes on the day hundreds of its employees are set to walk out as part of the ‘Global Climate Strike’. This strike is set to see millions around the world take to the streets to protest inaction on climate change.