Google has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Shell for the entire capacity of the 108MW Shell NoordzeeWind offshore wind farm, off the coast of Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands.

The PPA will facilitate the repowering of the facility, extending its lifespan by at least four years. According to the companies, the PPA will enable Shell to pursue permit extensions and invest in upgrades. It represents the first instance of a corporate PPA extending the life of an operational wind farm, the firms claim.

NoordzeeWind was the Netherlands’ first operational wind farm, coming online in 2007. Following the PPA, the wind farm is expected to continue operations until 2031.

The project was originally developed as part of a joint venture between Vattenfall and Shell. Shell acquired full control of the project in March 2021.

According to Google, it has now supported more than 1GW of clean energy generation in the Netherlands through PPAs. Last February, the search giant signed its largest offshore wind power deal to date after agreeing to buy 478MW from two offshore wind farms in the Netherlands.

The PPA will see Google purchase power from the Hollandse Kust Noord Wind Farm Zone Site V and Hollandse Kust West Site VI wind farms currently under construction off the coast of the Netherlands. These joint ventures are owned by Shell and the Netherlands-based energy company Eneco.

Before this, in April 2023, Google signed a ten-year PPA with Eneco to procure 153MW from a number of near-shore wind farms.

Google currently has two live data centers in the Dutch market, in Eemshaven, which opened in 2018, and another, which opened in 2020 in Middenmeer, just north of Amsterdam.

Last April, the company broke ground on another data center in the country in Westpoort, Netherlands.