Facebook said it has hit goals for 100% renewable coverage of its operations and net zero emissions, as it signed its first deal for green power in India.

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The social media giant has since setting the targets in 2018 emerged as one of the world's biggest buyers of clean power, with more than 6GW of wind and solar under contract from 63 projects globally.

The US-based group said it has in three years cut emissions by 94%, beating a 75% goal.

The announcement came as Facebook unveiled its first foray into renewable procurement in India after agreeing a tie-up with local developer CleanMax.

The partners will build a portfolio of wind and solar projects in states where Facebook operates facilities, starting with a 32MW wind farm in Karnataka, said a statement.

CleanMax will own and run the plants, while Facebook will buy all the environmental attribute certificates (EACs) associated with the output.

Urvi Parekh, Head of renewable energy at Facebook said: “We’re excited to announce this important step that is helping us support our operations in the region, including our offices in India, with 100% renewable energy.

“This partnership with CleanMax will enable new solar and wind power to be generated in the near future, contributing to the decarbonisation of the Indian electrical grid.”

Technology giants

Along with peers such as Google, Amazon and Apple, Facebook is among a clutch of web-based and technology businesses that kick-started procurement of renewable power globally to help green supplies to their huge datacentre fleets.

While the sector still leads, companies in other sectors such as chemicals, manufacturing and transportation are increasingly signing up as they chase stretching corporate decarbonisation goals.

Petrochemicals giant Borealis and mobile telephony outfits Orange and Vodaphone were among the new European companies that signed a record 51 power purchase agreements (PPAs), as the continent's corporate renewables space expanded to add 4GW of capacity last year, according to latest numbers from WindEurope released this week.