Google on Thursday said it had partnered with Adani Group to procure a bundled energy solution and decarbonize its cloud services in India. This includes clean energy supply from a 61.4 MW solar-wind hybrid plant to be developed in Khavda, Gujarat.
The power plant is expected to start commercial operations in 2025. This announcement follows a July 2024 report that mentions that Google’s emissions had increased by nearly 50% over the past five years, due artificial intelligence into its products.
“We're also partnering with Adani to procure bundled energy solutions and advance decarbonisation of Google’s cloud services in India. This includes clean energy supply from a 61.4 MW solar-wind hybrid plant to be developed in Khavda, Gujarat, and expected to start commercial operations in 2025,” said Google in a press note.
Additionally, Google has teamed up with CleanMax to further lower absolute emissions from its operations. The company is leveraging wind and solar power to meet a significant portion of its energy needs, supporting 125 MW of new clean energy projects in partnership with CleanMax.
“We are matching a significant portion of our energy use in India with clean power while supporting new clean energy projects and creating a ripple effect of change across the country,” said the company.
The collaboration also aligns with Google’s ambitious goal of achieving 24/7 carbon-free energy for its operations worldwide. The tech giant also aimed to reduce 50 per cent of all its combined Scope 1, 2, and 3 absolute emissions by 2030. This initiative was started by the company in 2019.
“We are matching a significant portion of our energy use in India with clean power while supporting new clean energy projects and creating a ripple effect of change across the country,” the spokesperson added.
Google recently marked its 20th anniversary in India at its annual event, Google for India. During the event, the company announced several new features tailored for Indian users.
Google reported that it has helped save Rs 13,000 crore from financial scams over the past year, displaying 41 million warnings for fraudulent transactions to protect Indian users. Additionally, to enhance fraud protection, the company announced that its Play Store will prevent high-risk sideload installations of apps.
“Android protects you from financial fraud through multiple layers of protection. To further combat evolving scam tactics, we’re soon piloting Enhanced Fraud Protection within Google Play Protect in India,” said Google.
“This feature will analyze and automatically block the installation of apps installed from internet-sideloaded sources that request sensitive permissions often abused in financial scams,” Google added.
It also partnered with Aditya Birla Finance Limited for personal loan offerings on Google Pay.