REDUCING ITS DATA CENTERS’ CARBON FOOTPRINT

Data center real estate investment trust (REIT) CyrusOne Inc., has just announced it plans to purchase 67MW of renewable energy from Enel Green Power’s 284MW Azure Sky solar + storage project located in Haskell County, Texas.

Expected to significantly reduce the company’s carbon footprint in Texas, the green energy purchase is considered equivalent to meeting 100% of the power requirements for CyrusOne’s data center facility in Allen, Texas, and approximately 70% of the power requirements for its data center in Carrollton, Texas.

“The purchase of renewables to reduce data center carbon emissions is a key part of our comprehensive sustainability mission at CyrusOne,” said Kyle Myers, Senior Director of Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability at CyrusOne.

“We’ve been transitioning our energy requirements to focus on renewable sources across our data center portfolio and are committed to implementing cutting-edge technologies and strategies that create a more sustainable future.”

The agreement to purchase renewable energy for the company’s Texas data centers further reflects CyrusOne’s commitment to its pledge of becoming carbon-free by 2040. The pledge was announced in September 2020, focusing on the use of renewable energy to power data centers, designing energy-efficient new buildings, and upgrading existing facilities.

“Making a pledge to become carbon neutral within the next 20 years is an important milestone in our mission to increase our global sustainability efforts, and help customers toward their sustainability goals. We recognize sustainability as a company-wide priority and are working to reduce our environmental footprint,” said Bruce W. Duncan, President and CEO of CyrusOne.

Prior to this announcement, CyrusOne had procured solar power for its Chandler facility in Arizona while its data centers in London (London I, London II, and London III) and Amsterdam are also powered by 100% renewable energy.

According to CyrusOne, the Enel Green Power’s Azure Sky solar + storage project in Haskell County is expected to be operational by the end of 2021.