Image:RWE

RWE, the German renewable energy developer, has inked a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA with Google to supply clean power for the tech firm’s data center operations across Oklahoma’s Southwest Power Pool (SPP) market.

Under the newly signed 15-year contract, Google will offtake power generated by the 155MW Crooked Creek solar project located in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Google operates at least two data center facilities within the state.

RWE confirmed on-site construction of Crooked Creek will kick off later this year, with full commercial operation targeted for 2028.

Ingmar Ritzenhofen, Chief Commercial Officer of RWE Americas, commented the deal mirrors surging corporate demand for cost-effective, domestic renewable power.

The latest Oklahoma solar PPA marks Google’s second renewable offtake deal in the state within a single month. The tech giant previously signed another solar power purchase contract with Leeward Renewable Energy for a portfolio of local solar assets. Separately, construction has started on Arkansas’ 2.5GW/2.9GWh Steel River Energy Centre — the largest solar-plus-storage facility in the US — and Google has locked in power supply from the project’s initial two development phases.

Will Conkling, Director of Energy and Power at Google, stressed grid stability and affordability remain core priorities as the group expands its global data center infrastructure footprint.

The growing power appetite of AI and data center build-outs has created systemic grid risks across key US regions, per Goldman Sachs research. The investment bank highlighted that data center electricity demand will expand by tens of gigawatts over the next two years, straining existing generation pipelines and exerting upward pressure on nationwide power prices and grid reliability in the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-Continent and Northwest markets.