Google puts $12 million into South African solar plant

Plant will power 30,000 South African homes and create 350 permanent jobs

Google is investing, yet again, in green energy, this time in a solar plant in South Africa.

The company is putting $12 million in the Jasper Power Project, a 96 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, it was announced Thursday. The project was developed and funded by SolarReserve, Intikon Energy and the Kensani Group, and is also backed by Rand Merchant Bank, the Public Investment Corporation, Development Bank of South Africa and the PEACE Humansrus Trust.

Google focuses on two factors when considering investing in a renewable energy project Rick Needham, Director, Energy & Sustainability at Google, wrote.

"South Africa’s strong resources and supportive policies for renewable energy make it an attractive place to invest—which is why it had the highest growth in clean energy investment in the world last year,"  said Needham.

"Second, we look for projects that have transformative potential—that is, projects that will bolster the growth of the renewable energy industry and move the world closer to a clean energy future. The Jasper Power Project is one of those transformative opportunities. To explain why, perhaps some background would be helpful."

South Africa has had both "a severe energy shortage" and high rates of unemployment. The  Jasper Power Project will help the country in both of these respects.

When it is completed, Google noted, the Jasper Power Project will "be one of the largest solar installations on the continent, capable of generating enough electricity to power 30,000 South African homes."  The project will also create approximately 300 construction and 50 permanent jobs.

Google's green energy investments

Google has committed over $1 billion to renewable energy investments.

In December 2011, Google invested $94 million into a California-based solar energy company, Recurrent Energy.

Investments also include solar power company Brightsource, in which Google initially originally invested $10 million in 2008 and then another $168 million; Rippey Wind Farm, which Google invested $75 million; and Clean Power Finance, in which Google also poured in $75 million.

In January, Google put $200 million into a windfarm in Texas and then donated $2.65 million to the Energy Foundation, a lobbying group that puts its focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy in the United States and China

Four of Google's investments has significant milestones in the past year:

• The Atlantic Wind Connection received permission to begin permitting, an important step in advancing the construction of the United States’ first offshore backbone electric transmission system (more in this new video).
• Shepherds Flat, one of the world’s largest wind farms with a capacity of 845 MW, became fully operational in October.
• The Ivanpah project, which is more than 75 percent complete and employs 2,000+ people, recently installed its 100,000th heliostat, a kind of mirror (more in this new video).
• Just yesterday (PDF), the fourth and final phase of Recurrent Energy's 88MW solar installation in Sacramento County, Calif., reached commercial operation.

(Image source: https://googlegreenblog.blogspot.com)