Equinix, a digital infrastructure company, and Neoen, one of the world’s leading producers of exclusively renewable energy, have signed a 10-year virtual Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of 53MW across seven new-build solar projects. This will support Equinix’s ability to maintain 100% renewable coverage for its International Business Exchange (IBX) data centres in Italy while increasing its backing of renewable power projects.
The PPA includes seven Neoen’s projects in Northern Italy, close to Equinix data centres in Milan and Genoa.
The solar projects will contribute to Italy’s Integrated National Plan for Energy and Climate Change targets by 2030.
The PPA is structured under a portfolio approach. It is the first PPA signed between Neoen and Equinix in Italy and the fifth in Europe over the past three years. These five PPAs represent a total contracted capacity of 210MW across Finland, Sweden and now Italy – a testimony to the strong relationship between the two companies and their continued collaboration in various geographies.
It also brings Neoen’s total contracted capacity under corporate PPAs worldwide to over 2.8GW and Equinix’s global capacity under long-term renewable energy contracts to around 1.2GW.
Equinix is focused on expanding the breadth and quality of its renewables portfolio and has executed 24 Power Purchase Agreements in total to date across Australia, Singapore, India, France, Iberia, Italy, the Nordics and the US – including 15 PPAs signed in 2023 alone.
Once operational, these projects are expected to generate more than 3,200,000MWh of clean energy, equivalent to the energy needed to power more than 850,000 European households for a year.
With teams based in Brescia, Modena and Rome, Neoen has ambitions to become a major player in Italy and a significant contributor to the development of renewable energy in the country and is currently developing numerous solar and storage projects.
“We are very pleased to sign our first PPA in Italy, less than 36 months after our establishment in the country and less than 10 months after launching the construction of our first assets in the country,” said Andrea Massimo Bartolini, Neoen Italy’s Director and Head of Business Development. “This agreement demonstrates Neoen’s ability to provide reliable, long-term and competitive renewable energy to our local clients. We are very proud to play our part in building a more competitive and sovereign Italy.”
Marco Matarazzo, Director of IBX Operations, Italy at Equinix, said: “Equinix is proud to continue its global programme of sustainability initiatives with the signing of our first power Purchase Agreement in Italy. The backing of the development of seven new solar projects in the country contributes to Italy’s decarbonisation targets and aligns with our goal of achieving 100% renewable energy coverage globally by 2030 as well as our commitments to driving positive change and advancing sustainability in the data centre industry as a whole.”
Xavier Barbaro, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Neoen, added: “I congratulate Neoen’s team on the signing of this new contract with Equinix, whose continued trust is an honour. Our diversified geographic footprint and the rapid growth of our asset portfolio enable us to meet our clients’ increasing needs. We are committed to sustaining this strong growth in the coming years, in Italy and around the world.”
