Summit Ridge Energy, a commercial solar company, recently announced a partnership with Digital Realty to purchase 5.1 megawatts of solar energy.
With this purchase, Digital Realty -- a global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center solutions – “will advance its sustainability objectives while delivering energy cost savings,” a news release noted.
The agreement includes both savings on energy costs and the purchase of renewable energy credits produced by three Summit Ridge-owned and operated commercial solar projects in Illinois.
These projects are expected to be energized and interconnected with Commonwealth Edison by late 2025 to early 2026.
"This partnership enables Digital Realty’s Northern Illinois-based data centers to offset a portion of their energy consumption. Additionally, the newly constructed solar projects will help enhance grid resilience across Illinois while supporting economic development through the creation of hundreds of construction and manufacturing jobs," Summit Ridge Energy said.
CBRE is Digital Realty’s community solar advisor and assisted in the selection of Summit Ridge based on its community solar expertise and advanced project development status.
“At Digital Realty, we are committed to advancing sustainable energy solutions that align with our global carbon reduction goals,” said Aaron Binkley, Vice President of Sustainability at Digital Realty. “Collaborating with Summit Ridge Energy supports our efforts to integrate more renewable energy into our operations while also contributing to a more resilient power grid in Illinois.”
“Digital Realty’s commitment to purchasing solar energy highlights the growing importance of leveraging alternative energy solutions in industries that depend on reliable power. With this agreement, we’re building a diversified, stronger grid while delivering tangible benefits to businesses,” said Marc Fioravanti, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Summit Ridge Energy. “This partnership illustrates that solar is playing an important role in the dramatic growth of the energy needs of technology companies, including those driven by AI and increased data processing.”
The three distributed solar farms powering Digital Realty are part of Summit Ridge’s 439 MW Illinois fleet of solar assets.
