Renewable energy firm Vattenfall is having a good year. Only recently it signed an exciting new deal to power Microsoft's vast global operation with wind power. Now it has signed a contract to produce the biggest order for offshore wind turbines on record this year.

The Microsoft deal will see over 200 million euros being pumped into the Wieringermeer wind farm to expand and reinvigorate the facility, which will have 100 turbines sited. The farm is expected to go online by 2019 and will be built just north of Amsterdam. It will produce enough clean energy to power 370,000 homes - and Microsoft's global data centre operations.

The tech giant's general energy manager, Brian Janous, said that it was a clear win for both Microsoft and the Netherlands to invest in locally produced clean energy to power the company's international data centres. 

Tech giants are certainly leading the way when it comes to big brands investing in renewables. Already, a number of global giants have pledged to achieve a 100pc renewables goal by 2020. Google has been investing in clean energy since 2010 and is on track to meet its 100pc renewables goal by the end of this year.

Vattenfall Wind spokesperson Gunnar Groebler said that the latest deal was clear proof of the company's ongoing commitment to a future clean-energy world. It has also won a tender to build two new Swedish wind farms which will see a whopping 1.7 billion euros invested in total. They will go online by 2022. The total power output is expected to be up to 1GW, making this the biggest renewable investment to date. The development contrasts with the UK's lagging position on renewable developments since the government appeared to lose clarity on its green energy direction.