By Gina Rullo
Equinix has made a total allocation of $4.9 billion in investment-grade green bonds to advance its progress toward its near-term science-based target to become climate-neutral by 2030 and improve the operational eco-efficiency of its business. Since 2020, six bond offerings have been issued, and as of the end of June 2023, all bonds have been fully allocated.
During the last five years, the bond offerings supported 172 green building projects across 105 sites, 33 energy efficiency projects, and two Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) projects. The PPAs support 225 megawatts of renewable energy capacity, which are expected to mitigate or avoid 383,300 metric tons of CO2e annually- the equivalent to emissions from more than 85,296 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year.
“All bonds are now fully allocated to support sustainability projects, such as a large-scale wind farm PPA in Oklahoma and green building projects across 105 Equinix sites. Our green building and energy efficiency projects include a wide range of innovative endeavors, such as advanced heat recovery systems, state-of-the-art cooling technologies, redesigned chilled water production, rooftop greenhouses and more,” wrote Christopher Wellise, VP of Sustainability for Equinix, in a recent blog post.
Equinix has developed a Green Finance Framework based on the Green Bond Principles and Green Loan Principles, a set of guidelines that promote transparency and integrity in and advance the standardization of green debt disclosures. The Framework aims to increase Equinix's focus on protecting the environment and addressing global climate change through greenhouse gas emissions reductions, improving resource efficiency, and driving corporate transparency and accountability.
In line with the International Capital Market Association's Green Bond Principles (GBP) 2018 and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association's Green Loan Principles (GLP) 2020, Equinix is allocating 100 percent of the Green Financing net proceeds to a portfolio of Eligible Green Projects which showcase how Equinix is building and operating sustainably, including Green Buildings; Renewable Energy; Energy Efficiency; Sustainable Water and Wastewater Management; Waste Management; and Clean Transportation.
"Equinix considers green bonds a valuable tool to raise capital and finance large projects that can increase the sustainability of our business. Our green bonds demonstrate Equinix's continued commitment to design, build, and deliver the most reliable, secure, and sustainable data center and digital infrastructure possible to benefit our customers, the communities in which we operate, our investors, and the planet," Equinix SVP Corporate Finance & Sustainability Katrina Rymill said. "Through allocating our green bonds, we continue to be able to align our financing needs with our sustainability strategy directly."
Equinix publishes its Green Bond Allocation and Impact Reports annually to provide transparency on progress. The 2023 report can be accessed via Equinix's Annual Sustainability Report.
The proceeds from green bonds issued by Equinix have been allocated toward various sustainability initiatives.
For example, Equinix's Co-Innovation Facility (CIF) in Ashburn, VA, provides a platform for trialing and showcasing advanced power, cooling and control methodologies—such as fuel cells and liquid cooling—for use in its future data centers. Located in Equinix's DC15 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center, the facility allows the company to work with suppliers to develop prototype approaches, such as direct-to-chip liquid cooling.
Gina Rullo is a freelance writer.
The data center provider recently announced plans to expand support for advanced liquid cooling technologies—such as direct-to-chip—to more than 100 IBX data centers in more than 45 metros worldwide.
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