Amazon takes lead in purchasing global renewable energy
Amazon is launching nine new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K.
The e-tail titan is now the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy globally and in Europe with 206 projects around the world, enough to power millions of homes a year. With more than 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in Europe, and 8.5 GW of renewable energy capacity globally, Amazon is on a path to 100% renewable energy by 2025.
Amazon’s first solar project paired with energy storage, based in California’s Imperial Valley, which allows the company to align solar generation with the greatest demand. The project generates 100 megawatts (MW) of solar energy, which is enough to power over 28,000 homes for a year and includes 70 MW of energy storage.
Amazon is also announcing its first renewable energy investment in Canada, an 80 MW solar project in Alberta. Once complete, it will produce over 195,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable energy to the grid, or enough energy to power more than 18,000 Canadian homes for a year.
Amazon’s newest project in the U.K. is a 350 MW wind farm off the coast of Scotland and is its largest in the country. Other new U.S. projects include Amazon’s first renewable energy project in Oklahoma - a 118 MW wind project – as well as new solar projects in three Ohio counties. Together, these Ohio projects will account for more than 400 MW of new energy procurement in the state.
And in Spain, Amazon’s newest solar projects are located in Extremadura and Andalucia, together adding more than 170 MW to the grid. Amazon’s newest project in Sweden is a 258 MW onshore wind project located in the northern part of the country.
In total, Amazon’s global renewable energy projects include 71 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 135 solar rooftops on facilities and stores worldwide. These projects supply renewable energy to Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, Whole Foods Market stores, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers, Investing in renewable energy is one of the actions Amazon is taking as part of The Climate Pledge, a commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
“Amazon continues to scale up its investments in renewable energy as part of its effort to meet The Climate Pledge, our commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “With these nine new wind and solar projects, we have announced 206 renewable wind and solar projects worldwide, and we are now the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe and globally. Many parts of our business are already operating on renewable energy, and we expect to power all of Amazon with renewable energy by 2025—five years ahead of our original target of 2030.”
A map of all of Amazon’s renewable energy projects around the world can be found here.