Microsoft Notches Deal for Singapore’s Biggest Solar Project–Ever

Singapore is about to receive its largest solar energy portfolio thanks to tech giant, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).

The company unveiled on Thursday (March 1) that it had signed an agreement with Sunseap Group, a solar energy system developer in Singapore, to buy solar power energy from rooftops in the city-state–officially making it the largest of its kind in the region.

According to Microsoft’s press release, this agreement marks the company’s first clean energy deal in Asia, with the 60 megawatt-peak (MWp) solar portfolio spanning “hundreds” of rooftops within the nation.

Kevin Wo, managing director of Microsoft Singapore, said in the release that Microsoft’s cloud services will help power Singapore’s digital transformation. The release also states that in addition to this being Singapore’s largest rooftop solar project, it is also the first rooftop solar portfolio in the country with a focus on providing data center energy consumption.

“[Thursday’s] agreement will ensure the transformation is increasingly powered by clean energy,” Wo said. “With the agreement, Microsoft will improve the sustainability of our local operations and make important progress toward our corporate sustainability goals for datacenters.”

Sunseap alleges it is the largest solar leasing company in Singapore, and operates its business in the South East Asia and Pacific regional markets, including: India, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

While the 20-year agreement is Microsoft’s first renewable energy deal in Asia, last year the company notched two wind energy deals in Ireland and the Netherlands, the release said. Microsoft further claims it’s in a good position to exceed its previous target of powering 50 percent of its global data centers with renewable energy by this year.

“Once operational, the new solar project will bring Microsoft’s total global direct procurement in renewable energy projects to 860 megawatts,” Christian Belady, general manager, cloud infrastructure strategy and architecture at Microsoft said. Work on the project is already underway and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

Following Thursday’s announcement, shares of Microsoft slid 0.98 percent to $92.85 at market close. However, after hours trading bumped its share price up 0.15 percent to $92.99 as of 4:38 p.m EST on Thursday. Year-to-date, Microsoft’s shares have moved upwards by 8.55 percent.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.