Qcells set to power Microsoft in new deal
♦ The solar energy campus rising in Cartersville will supply the global tech giant.
Two companies that are having a $3.5 billion impact on the future of Northwest Georgia have announced a massive deal involving Cartersville’s rising solar energy plant.
Announced in early January, Qcells says it has struck an eight-year “strategic alliance” with Microsoft Corp., “a global technology company that solidifies Microsoft as one of the world’s largest purchasers of renewable energy.”
What’s key is the solar modules to be purchased by Microsoft will be made at Qcells’ $2.5 billion campus quickly rising in Cartersville. Operations are due to begin late this year, employment 2,000 people once in service.
The announcement came within days of Qcells’ initial announcement of the large campus growing at Highland 75 off I-75 in Bartow County. A subsidiary of Qcells also is adding an adjoining supplier.
What wasn’t yet known at the time of that announcement was whether those made-in-Cartersville components will help power Microsoft’s
billion-dollar data center coming to Huffaker Road in West Rome.
Microsoft unveiled those plans in late October, pledging to add up to 150 jobs. Nicknamed “Project Firecracker,” it includes 347 acres purchased in a $13.9 million deal.
The timetable looks like this: Completion in 2027 or 2028 with the design stage coming first followed by site preparations. Construction could take 18 to 25 months.
As for the Qcells/Microsoft deal, here are some additional specifics from the media release:
♦ It is the largest module and engineering procurement and construction services agreement to date for Qcells. It will supply Microsoft with 12 gigawatts of solar modules and EPC services. That’s enough to power more than 1.8 million homes a year.
♦ Microsoft continues to invest in purchasing renewable energy and other efforts to meet its sustainability goals of being carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030.
Qcells and Microsoft are part of a nearly $10 billion investment announced in under a year in Bartow and Floyd counties. SK On/Hyundai are building a massive electric vehicle battery plant between Cartersville and Rome off U.S. 411. The $5 billion campus will employ 3,500 people and should be in operation by 2025.