In 2020, Equinix undertook a year of transition to create foundational elements that will be integral to achieving our long-term goal of 100% clean and renewable energy across our global interconnection and data center platform. As an RE100 member since 2015 we believe in the promise of a greener grid. We are committed to reaching our goal of 100% clean and renewable energy usage across our global portfolio by 2025 for existing sites and by 2030 for future sites and acquisitions. Through the EU Climate Neutral Data Center Operator Pact we also committed to reaching 75% renewable by 2025 and 100% renewable by 2030. Equinix is already 99% renewable throughout Europe as of 2020.
Our Renewable Energy Principles
Equinix applies four principles to our purchasing decisions as they relate to our goal of 100% clean and renewable energy:
- Utilize renewable and low carbon energy
- Secure local sources of renewable energy where possible
- Seek new or recently built generation sources
- Advocate for favorable renewable energy policies and consider renewable energy availability when locating new data centers
Progress
Equinix continues to expand into new markets, building and acquiring data centers around the world. Through the efforts of our global operations teams, we prioritize increasing and expanding our renewable energy purchasing even as we grow.
In 2020, Equinix consumed ~6,460 GWh of electricity and chilled water in our data centers. This figure includes overhead infrastructure usage, as well as customer IT load. Although our overall energy usage is growing, our global Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) has improved annually. PUE is a measure of how efficiently we are powering our customers’ IT equipment. Of our electricity consumption, 5,840 GWh or 91% was from renewable energy procured by Equinix in 2020. Year-over-year, Equinix has increased our procurement of renewables by 11% on a GWh-basis.
We procure renewable energy in all three regions of the world in which we operate. Our renewable power comes from a variety of projects and products that are certified to meet rigorous reporting and retirement standards. Our renewable energy is sourced from:
- Wind farms in Oklahoma and Texas, renewable energy certificates and local clean energy or low-carbon programs in the U.S. and Brazil
- Certified green power from our suppliers in Europe
- International certificates from renewable energy projects in China, Japan and Vietnam
In alignment with our principles, we are actively considering opportunities to increase the quality, locality, and additionality of our renewable energy purchases. Key focus areas going forward include transitioning from certificates to VPPAs where feasible and cost-effective and adding to our coverage in Asia-Pacific.
Onsite Solar Installations
Onsite solar PV is a visible sign of Equinix’s commitment to renewables. While onsite deployments do not contribute a substantive amount of power to an Equinix data center, we continue to look for opportunities to expand deployment of solar in our portfolio where viable. We outfitted three data centers (BR1, CA1, SY7) in Australia with solar arrays (66kW, 39kW and 33kW respectively) expected to go live in 2021; these join existing global solar PV systems such as our 528kW system in Silicon Valley at SV10; 1,020kW system at BO2; and 455kW at NY11; as well as a rooftop installation at SG3.
SASB TC-SI-130a.1, IF-RE-130a.1, IF-RE-130a.2.
Equinix’s portfolio of IBX data centers has doubled since 2015 and our overall efficiency has improved from 1.62 to 1.51 even as the portfolio remains a mix of old and new sites.
Equinix’s renewable energy purchasing has increased every year since 2015 and continues to be over 90% globally. In the last two years absolute renewable energy purchasing has increased 23%. We aim to increase both the quality of products we buy and the percentage of renewable energy coverage in our overall energy mix.
Equinix’s U.S. and Canada data center load and all European countries achieved 100% renewable in 2020. China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea were 100% in 2020 using high-quality renewable energy certificates.
Equinix takes advantage of a variety of renewable energy procurement options throughout the world. Our preferred options are those that directly contribute to new generation sources coming online but we also benefit from a variety of renewable energy products.
Advocacy and Collaboration
Advocacy is a hallmark of our strategy as we leverage the buying power of many companies through a single voice. We are building awareness about how corporations can purchase renewable energy. We advocate for bringing more renewables onto the grid for all customers and consumers of electricity.
Awards and Recognition
Equinix has received recognition from a variety of organizations for our leadership in the renewable energy space.
“With REBA, we are bringing the buying power of large energy consumers together to change markets. Equinix was one of our earliest members and the first in their industry to publicly commit to a 100% renewable energy goal. Equinix has gone beyond their own footprint to serve as true leaders in the clean energy buyer community, and their expertise is helping us move the needle to a cleaner, more affordable, zero-carbon energy future.”
– Miranda Ballentine, REBA CEO April 2019
Design and Innovate for the Environment
Equinix designs, builds and operates sustainable data centers and engages in green financing opportunities.