This is not a bet for / against anything. This is an investment into tax equity. Because Google has large tax liabilities, they can deploy tax equity more efficiently than most investors. That's why they're in this game -- and I'm glad that they are.
Me too. And I think there is a marketing angle to it. When their green energy output rises to the point of their search infrastrucutre consumption level, they can use that as marketing ammunition. Would you rather search on carbon-powered search engine or green-powered Google search? At their scale, even a tiny percentage point rise / defended in market share will add up over time to recoup (part of) the investment.
-$200 million in a 161 MW wind farm in Oldham County, Texas
-$75 million in a 50 MW wind farm in Rippey, Iowa
-$94 million in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects being built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California
-$75 million to create a fund with Clean Power Finance that will help up to 3,000 homeowners go solar
-$280 million in SolarCity for residential solar
-$168 million into Brightsource's solar project, Ivanpah, in California’s Mojave Desert
-37.5% equity stake in the early-stage development of the Atlantic Wind Connection backbone, a project to build a superhighway transmission infrastructure for clean, reliable energy off the Mid-Atlantic coast
-$157 million in two projects totaling 270 MW at the Alta Wind Energy Center
-$100 million into Shepherd’s Flat, the world’s largest wind farm at 845 MW
-$38.8 million in two wind farms in North Dakota that generate 169.5 MW of power
-€3.5 million (approximately $5 million for a 49 percent equity stake in the project) in a recently completed solar facility in Brandenburg, Germany
Google could eventually become the Rockefeller of renewable energy.