AirTrunk, a hyperscale data centre provider in the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, is teaming up with CLP Power Hong Kong, a major power utility in Hong Kong, on what has been hailed as the largest location-specific renewable energy certificate (REC) procurement in the city. The initiative supports tech giant Microsoft's aim to utilise 100% renewable energy by the year 2025.

The project is expected to draw on over 200 megawatts of solar power from a network of installations sited around 17,000 locations throughout Hong Kong's New Territories. It builds on an earlier collaborative effort between Microsoft, AirTrunk, and CLP Power involving hourly renewable energy solutions. This effort matched the electricity consumption at Microsoft's Hong Kong data centre with local renewable energy generated by CLP Power's West New Territories (WENT) Landfill Gas Power Generation Units.

Commenting on the partnership, Damien Spillane, Chief Customer and Innovation Officer at AirTrunk, cited it as evidence of the company's ongoing commitment to helping foster the sustainable growth of the cloud computing sector. "As the region's largest hyperscale data centre provider, we continue to identify opportunities to collaborate with customers and utility providers," said Spillane. "This agreement reinforces that multiple stakeholder collaboration is needed to help decarbonise the industry."

Lena Low, Senior Director of Customer Success and Experience at CLP Power, also voiced her support for the collaboration. She expressed pleasure that "more corporate customers have committed to larger and longer RECs procurement," citing it as a sign of their support for long-term sustainability and local renewable energy development.

Low confirmed CLP Power's commitment to do its part, in cooperation with partners like AirTrunk, to help Microsoft achieve its renewable energy aims while also assisting other business customers in minimising their carbon footprint in line with the Hong Kong SAR Government's decarbonisation targets.

Adrian Anderson, General Manager for Renewable and Carbon Free Energy at Microsoft, also voiced strong support for such collaborations, seeing them as essential in aiding companies like Microsoft to achieve their green energy aims. "By leveraging the capabilities of organisations like AirTrunk and CLP Power and their presence in the Hong Kong market, we are able to secure additional renewable supply in support of our goal to use 100% renewable energy by 2025," said Anderson. "These types of collaborations are key as we continue to move toward meeting our renewable energy goals."

Beyond this initiative, AirTrunk reportedly offers customers renewable energy options across its 11 facilities in APJ to aid them in meeting their ambitious sustainability targets. The company has published details of its progress towards attaining Net Zero emissions by 2030 in its FY23 Sustainability Report.