Amazon Unveils Big Increase in Renewable Energy Sourcing, on Path to 100% by 2025
Amazon has increased its renewable energy portfolio by nearly 30%, with the announcement of 37 new wind and solar energy projects around the world totaling 3.5 GW of clean energy capacity.
According to Amazon, the new projects will help enable the company to achieve its sustainability goals, including reaching net zero emissions by 2040, and powering 100% of company activities with renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of its original 2030 goal.
The deals also solidify Amazon’s position as the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world, with a renewables portfolio of 17.7 GW across 310 projects and 19 countries. Amazon stated that once operational, its portfolio of projects is expected to produce enough renewable energy to power 3.9 million U.S. homes and avoid 17.3 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
The new 37 projects are located across the U.S, Spain, France, Australia, Canada, India, and UAE, and include 3 new wind farms, 26 new solar farms, and 8 rooftop solar installations.
Among them are a 300 MW solar project paired with 150 MW of battery storage in Arizona, and a 150 MW solar project paired with a 75 MW of battery storage in California.
23 of the projects will be in the U.S, bringing Amazon’s total clean energy procurement in the U.S to 10.4 GW. In Spain, the company added 3 new solar farms and 2 wind farms, bringing its total investment to 1.4 GW in the country.
Other projects include Amazon’s first rooftop solar project in UAE, which is a 2.7 MW installation in Dubai, along with 7 rooftop solar projects in Australia, Canada, India, and Japan, totaling over 5 MW of capacity. The projects will supply clean energy for Amazon’s offices, fulfillment centers, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers.
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, said:
“Our commitment to protecting the planet and limiting Amazon’s impact on the environment has led us to become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world in both 2020 and 2021. Given the growth of our business, and our mission to run 100% of Amazon’s operations on renewable energy, we aren’t slowing our renewable investments down. We now have 310 wind and solar projects across 19 countries, and are working hard to reach our goal of powering 100% of our business on renewable energy by 2025—five years ahead of our original target of 2030.”