First Solar to Power Microsoft Datacenters in Arizona

   By Stephen Nakrosis

First Solar Inc. (FSLR) said Tuesday it signed a 20-year agreement with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) to power two of that company's datacenters in Arizona.

First Solar said the new energy-efficient data centers will be powered by its Sun Streams 2 solar plant. Construction on Sun Streams 2 is expected to begin later this year, and will create 500 construction jobs. The data center is slated to begin operations in 2021. Once operational, First Solar said, it "will displace 190,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, which is equivalent to taking 37,000 cars off the road every year and saving 356 million liters of water annually based on Arizona averages."

First Solar also said it is expanding production of its proprietary Series 6 modules, which will be used in the Sun Streams 2 project. The company said once a new factory in Perrysburg, Ohio is operational, it will be the largest solar module manufacturer in the western hemisphere.

"First Solar's high-tech factories, which are some of the most sophisticated and sustainable facilities of their type in the world, are enabled by Microsoft technologies and the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.... The Series 6 modules produced by these factories will power Sun Streams 2, which, in turn, will be used to deliver renewable energy to our world-class datacenters in Arizona," said Brian Janous, General Manager of Energy and Sustainability at Microsoft. "This is an example of how Microsoft is able to accelerate clean energy and create symbiotic value, not only in our operations but beyond."

--Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2019 18:06 ET (22:06 GMT)

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024