Amazon becomes the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy globally
Amazon headquarters announced 18 new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects across the U.S., Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K., totaling 5.6 gigawatts (GW) of procured capacity to date in 2021. Amazon now has 274 renewable energy projects globally and is on a path to power 100% of its business operations with renewable energy by 2025 — five years earlier than its original 2030 commitment.
These new utility-scale wind and solar projects bring the company’s total committed renewable electricity production capacity to more than 12 GW and 33,700 gigawatt hours (GWh) when the projects become fully operational, or electricity output equivalent to powering more than 3 million American homes for a year.
The projects will supply renewable energy for the company’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres that support millions of customers globally. The projects will also help the global corporation meet its commitment to produce the clean energy equivalent of the electricity used by all consumer Echo devices.
Following this announcement, Amazon is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world, with 274 global projects including 105 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 169 solar rooftops on facilities and stores worldwide.
The latest wind and solar projects include:
1. Eight new projects across the U.S.
The company added more than 1 GW of utility-scale solar projects in the U.S., including its first solar projects in Arizona and Georgia, and additional projects in Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. In total, the company has enabled more than 6 GW of renewable energy in the U.S. through 62 projects.
2. A second solar project paired with energy storage
Based in Arizona, Amazon’s second solar project paired with energy storage enables the company to align solar generation with periods of the greatest demand, even when the sun is not shining. The 300-megawatt (MW) solar project is paired with a 150-MW battery energy storage system and brings the corporation’s battery storage projects to 220 MW.
3. Four new renewable projects in the Nordics
The company added 158 MW through four wind projects in Finland, bringing its total renewable energy portfolio across the Nordics to more than 950 MW.
4. Additional projects in Italy, Spain, and Northern Ireland
Amazon’s new solar project in Italy is the company’s third in the country, adding 40 MW on top of the 66 MW already enabled. In Spain, the company’s four new solar projects together add more than 630 MW to the grid. A new wind project in Northern Ireland brings the company’s portfolio to 245 MW on Ireland’s all-island grid and its total U.K. portfolio to more than 545 MW of wind energy. In total, the company has enabled more than 3.5 GW of renewable energy in Europe through 34 projects, making it the largest procurer of renewable energy in Europe.
The Climate Pledge
Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019. The Pledge now has more than 200 signatories, including Best Buy, IBM, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Siemens, Unilever, Verizon, and Visa. To reach its goal, Amazon will continue to reduce emissions across its operations by taking real business actions and establishing a path to power its operations with 100% renewable energy, five years ahead of the company’s original target of 2030; delivering its Shipment Zero vision to make all Amazon shipments net-zero carbon, with 50% net-zero carbon by 2030; purchasing 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, the largest order ever of electric delivery vehicles; and by investing $2 billion in the development of decarbonizing services and solutions through the Climate Pledge Fund.