Dive Brief:

• Google announced on Thursday it will invest $103 million in the Mount Signal Solar project.
• The 265.7-megawatt solar farm is under construction in Calif.  and is being developed by co-owner Silver Ridge Power (formerly known as AES Solar), a joint venture between AES Corp. and Riverstone Holdings.

Dive Insight:

This is the Google's 13th investment in renewable energy, with the tech giant pouring over $1 billion into wind and solar investments with more than 2 gigawatts of capacity. Beyond just setting a good example, Google is looking to make a good return on its energy investments.

As Kojo Ako-Asare, head of corporate finance at Google, explained: "Why are we making these investments? It’s simple: we believe in a clean energy future, and we think that companies like ours can help make it happen. We invest in these projects because they make business sense, because they help put more renewable energy on the grid, and because they have a positive impact on the local economies where they operate."