Google will buy more wind power for its Finnish data center. The IT giants went to Finland for the efficiency benefits of Finland’s seawater cooling and overall cool temperatures. But Google has historically also chosen to make renewable energy investments in these markets. The last few months saw Google invest in wind and solar in Texas, California and Arizona. Typically these investments don’t feed directly to Google’s data centers but are placed on the grid and help offset Google’s power use.

Google’s director of global infrastructure noted to The Financial Times, “Long-term power purchase agreements enable wind farm developers to add new generation capacity to the grid, which is good for the environment, but they also make great financial sense for companies like Google.”

It’s interesting that Google sees part of its role as energy investor, having poured over a billion into renewable energy investments. Google, like some other IT giants, is in the enviable position of sitting on lots of cash. At the end of September the company had a whopping $56 billion in cash on its books. I mention it because right now Apple is facing pressure to return more of its boatload of cash to investors. But Google’s taken some of its money and invested it in ways that align with its core principles around the environment and energy sourcing for its data centers. Now that I mention it, I’m sure both companies could consider more sustainability oriented investments that align with its business strategies. Packaging, hardware, raw material sourcing. The possibilities go way beyond just power.