GHG Emissions, Industrial, Solar, Sourcing Renewables, Wind - December 1, 2021
Amazon Invests in 18 European and US Renewable Energy Projects
Amazon 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 of procured capacity 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 Amazon’s total committed renewable electricity production capacity to more than 12 GW and 33,700 gigawatt hours when the projects become fully operational, or electricity output equivalent to powering more than 3 million U.S. homes for a year.
The projects will supply renewable energy for Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, and Amazon Web Services data centers. The amount of clean energy produced by these projects will avoid the equivalent of the annual emissions of nearly three million cars in the U.S. each year, or about 13.7 million metric tons.
“We are moving quickly and deliberately to reduce our carbon emissions and address the climate crisis,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon in a statement.
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 18 new wind and solar projects announced today include:
- Eight new projects across the U.S.: Amazon added more than 1 GW of utility-scale solar projects in the U.S., including Amazon’s first solar projects in Arizona and Georgia, and additional projects in Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. In total, Amazon has enabled more than 6 GW of renewable energy in the U.S. through 62 projects.
- 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 Amazon’s battery storage projects to 220 MW.
- Four new renewable projects in the Nordics: Amazon added 158 MW through four wind projects in Finland, bringing its total renewable energy portfolio across the Nordics to more than 950 MW.
- 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, Amazon’s four new solar projects together add more than 630 MW to the grid. A new wind project in Northern Ireland brings Amazon’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, Amazon 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.
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