By Kimberley Kao

Alphabet's Google has signed a solar power-purchase agreement in Malaysia with Japan's Shizen Energy, as technology giants increasingly turn to renewables to power energy-intensive artificial-intelligence infrastructure.

Google will buy power from a 30-megawatt solar-power plant being developed by a consortium led by Shizen Malaysia, the Japanese company said Monday.

The project, located in the state of Kedah in Malaysia, is expected to start operations in 2027.

The agreement will directly support Google's goal of running its operations on carbon-free energy, and advance Malaysia's goal of a 70% renewable-energy share by 2050, Shizen Energy said.

"As our first utility-scale project in Malaysia, this 29.99 MWac facility is a flagship for our Southeast Asia growth strategy and significantly contributes to our cumulative regional capacity," said Kenji Kawado, chief executive of Shizen International.

Google's emissions have jumped 51% since 2019 due to AI-related needs, according to the company's environmental report published earlier this year. In an AI-focused report from August, however, Google said its AI systems are becoming more efficient. It said the energy required to power a median Gemini text prompt decreased by 97% in the past year.

Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 15, 2025 01:45 ET (06:45 GMT)

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