Google has further demonstrated its renewable energy credentials by committing to purchase the future green electricity output from two new Nordic wind farms. Both developments are yet to be constructed in Sweden and Europe, but once built they will produce green energy to power Google's vast European data centres.

The company released a statement saying that an agreement was also in place for a purchase agreement with a smaller wind energy project, also in Sweden, meaning that Google will be purchasing 236 MW of fresh capacity annually.

The new wind farm in Norway will have 50 wind turbines and a total wind capacity of 160 MW. It will go online late next year and become the country's biggest wind farm to date. The Swedish wind farm will be completed in 2018 and will have 22 turbines. The total value of the purchase agreement is yet to be confirmed.

Google has committed itself to growing its investment in green power and achieved carbon-neutral status in 2007. It has been powering its vast operations entirely from green energy sources since. The latest agreement will be the company's first wind energy deal in Europe and will further bolster Google's commitment to sustainable operations.

Equity financing for the project will be provided by BlackRock funds, the global asset management firm.

Google already as three other power purchase arrangements in Sweden and now purchases 500MW of green power from Europe. 

It is an interesting example of how commercial brands can use their power and influence to stimulate positive societal change at a broader level and persuade national governments to show similar movement towards more sustainable ways of doing business - particularly where those firms feel that insufficient progress is otherwise being made at a policy level.