Google and Microsoft are reportedly investigating possible investment in European offshore wind farms, as they seek to secure green energy supplies for their giant datacentres.
According to reports in the Financial Times yesterday, John Lynch, head of power for Europe at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said he "would not be surprised" if the IT giants moved into the sector "in the not too distant future".
Google and Microsoft declined to comment on the speculation, but with both companies committed to curbing the carbon footprint of their energy hungry datacentres and many offshore wind farms struggling to raise capital from conventional sources, the rumours have a ring of plausibility.
There is also a precedent in the form of BT's plans to invest £250m in building its own onshore wind farms capable of providing a quarter of its electricity by 2016. The plans are currently stalled, with BT reviewing whether changes to the government's carbon reporting and renewable energy incentive schemes will undermine the economic case for the investment, but experts are convinced that non-energy firms will eventually emerge as major players in the wind energy market.
Charles Anglin of the British Wind Energy Association told the FT that he expected growing numbers of large electricity consumers to enter the industry in the coming years, as they seek to overcome the supply shortages that have made it increasingly difficult for them to buy in renewable energy. " Companies with a big electricity bill will be looking to get into the business and supply themselves," he said.
Lynch added that investors such as Google and Microsoft would be welcomed with open arms by the wind energy industry following a fall of 50 to 80 per cent in the amount of conventional finance available from banks. He said that sovereign wealth funds were also likely to help fill the financing gap as governments in the Middle East and Asia seek long-term European investments.
However, Andy Cox at KPMG told the FT that multinational firms such as Microsoft and Google were unlikely to stump up any cash for wind farm developers until the recession fully over. "At a time when capital is in short supply and everyone is driving down costs, it could be some time before we see US multinationals invest in offshore wind in Europe," he said.
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