Amazon set to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025

These projects supply renewable energy to Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfillment centres, Whole Foods Market stores, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres, which power Amazon and millions of AWS customers globally. The renewable energy from these projects also helps Amazon meet its commitment to produce the clean energy equivalent to the electricity used by all consumer Echo devices. All of these projects put Amazon on a path to power 100% of its activities with renewable energy by 2025—five years ahead of the original target of 2030. Investing in renewable energy is one of the many 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.

The nine new wind and solar projects announced in the US, Canada, Spain, Sweden, and the UK include:

• The company’s first solar project paired with energy storage: Based in California’s Imperial Valley, US, Amazon’s first solar project paired with energy storage allows the company to align solar generation with the greatest demand. The project generates 100 MW of solar energy, which is enough to power over 28 000 homes for a year and includes 70 MW of energy storage. The project also allows Amazon to deploy next-generation technologies for energy storage and management while maintaining the reliability and resilience of California’s electricity grid.
• The company’s first renewable project in Canada: Amazon is announcing its first renewable energy investment in Canada—an 80 MW solar project in the County of Newell in Alberta. Once complete, it will produce over 195 000 MWh of renewable energy to the grid, or enough energy to power more than 18 000 Canadian homes for a year.
• One of the largest corporate renewable energy projects in the UK: Amazon’s newest project in the UK is a 350 MW wind farm off the coast of Scotland and is Amazon’s largest in the country. It is also one of the largest corporate renewable energy deals announced by any company in the UK to date.
• New projects in the US: Amazon’s first renewable energy project in Oklahoma is a 118 MW wind project located in Murray County. Amazon is also building new solar projects in Ohio’s Allen, Auglaize, and Licking counties. Together, these Ohio projects will account for more than 400 MW of new energy procurement in the state.
• Additional investments in Spain and Sweden: In Spain, Amazon’s newest solar projects are located in Extremadura and Andalucia, and together add more than 170 MW to the grid. Amazon’s newest project in Sweden is a 258 MW onshore wind project located in Northern Sweden.

Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. The pledge now has 53 signatories, including IBM, Unilever, Verizon, Siemens, Microsoft, and Best Buy. To reach its goal, the company 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 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 US$2 billion in the development of decarbonising services and solutions through the Climate Pledge Fund.

For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry, read the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

Energy Global's Spring 2021 issue

The Spring issue of Energy Global features a varied spectrum of in-depth technical articles detailing recent projects, future projections, and technological advancements in the renewables sector, from companies including GlobalData, Atlas Copco, Watlow, QED Naval, TRACTO, AB Energy, and more.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/special-reports/20042021/amazon-set-to-reach-100-renewable-energy-by-2025/