Microsoft just hit a major green energy milestone. On Wednesday, the company announced that it is now buying enough renewable energy to match 100% of its global electricity use. As the tech giant continues its massive, AI-fueled expansion, it has promised to keep that 100% commitment for the future.
To reach this goal, Microsoft signed contracts for a massive 40 gigawatts of new renewable energy. That is more than enough to power all the company’s data centers, offices, and other facilities. So far, about half of that clean energy is already flowing to the power grid, with the rest set to come online over the next five years. “As we continue to grow we want to maintain that 100%,” said Noelle Walsh, Microsoft’s head of cloud operations.
This is a huge deal because the demand for electricity from tech companies is absolutely exploding. Artificial intelligence requires an incredible amount of computing power, which in turn requires an incredible amount of energy. To keep its AI dreams running, Microsoft has been on a spending spree, announcing a separate plan to invest $50 billion by 2030 to expand its cloud and AI data centers across the world.
While Microsoft is leaning heavily on wind and solar, it’s also looking at other sources of clean power. The company’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Melanie Nakagawa, said that carbon-free sources like nuclear energy will play a bigger role in the future. In fact, Microsoft already signed a deal in 2024 to help restart a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
This push for green energy isn’t just about PR. In countries like Ireland, a major tech hub, the government is now requiring new data centers to get at least 80% of their power from renewable sources. Microsoft’s aggressive move to go 100% renewable shows it is trying to get ahead of these new regulations and position itself as a leader in the sustainable tech movement.
