Digital infrastructure company, Equinix, Inc., has announced that it priced $1.2 billion in green bonds in its fourth green bond offering, making it the fourth-largest green bonds issuer globally. The green bonds will be used to help advance the company’s commitment to sustainability leadership and reducing its environmental impact.
The company intends to allocate an amount equal to the net proceeds from the green bonds to finance or refinance, in whole or in part, recently completed or future Eligible Green Projects, including categories such as green buildings, renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable water and wastewater management, waste management, and clean transportation.
Keith Taylor, Chief Financial Officer at Equinix, said: “We are proud that Equinix is now the fourth-largest issuer of green bonds globally. With the capital generated from this financing, we will continue to strengthen our longstanding environmental commitments while aligning our sustainability strategy with our capital needs.”
Last year, Equinix became the first in the data centre industry to commit to globally reaching climate-neutral by 2030, backed by science-based targets and an aggressive sustainability innovation agenda. The company says that its approved emissions reduction target by the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) builds on the company’s strong track record of sustainable growth and innovation, including achieving over 90 per cent renewable energy coverage for its data centres since 2018.
Additionally, 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 standardisation of, green debt disclosures. It is hoped that the Framework will increase Equinix’s focus on protecting the environment and addressing global climate change through greenhouse gas emissions reductions, increasing resource efficiency, and driving corporate transparency and accountability.
Previous green bonds issued by Equinix have been allocated towards initiatives that include their new IBX data center—MU4—located in Aschheim near Munich, Germany, which features a green façade and partially planted roof. The greenery acts as additional natural insulation and cooling, also ensuring the building blends into the cityscape.
The next construction phase of the data centre will see the installation of an Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system which enables thermal energy to be stored and recovered, and will help further optimise cooling efficiency, reducing the site’s overall carbon footprint. The data centre is be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy—purchased through a green power certificate from local supplier, Mainova. In addition to these measures, Equinix is also exploring options to provide waste heat from the MU4 data centre to external consumers in the future.
