E-commerce giant Amazon has announced that it is expanding its renewable energy portfolio globally, with an additional 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity across 71 new renewable energy projects. The company confirmed plans which included its first renewable energy project in South America, a solar farm in Brazil and its first solar farms in India and Poland during New York climate week.
Once they are up and running, Amazon’s global renewable energy portfolio will generate 50,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean energy, which is equal to the amount of electricity needed to power 4.6 million U.S. homes each year.
Adam Selipsky, chief executive of Amazon Web Services said:
"We are bringing new wind and solar projects online to power our offices, fulfilment centres, data centres, and stores, which collectively serve millions of customers globally, and we are on a path to reach 100 per cent renewable energy across our entire business by 2025. Around the world, countries are looking to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, and continued investments like ours can help accelerate their journey as we all work together to mitigate the impacts of climate change."
According to Amazon these latest investments further secures its position as the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally. Its portfolio is now made up of 379 energy projects across 21 countries, including 154 wind and solar farms and 225 rooftop solar projects, representing 18.5GW of renewable energy capacity. By the end of 2021, the company said it had sourced enough renewable energy to cover 85 per cent of demand across its business.
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Amazon continues to successfully enable projects in power grids across the world.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Amazon is announcing the company’s first three large scale projects in India. All three are solar projects in Rajasthan, representing 420 megawatts (MW) of clean energy capacity. Amazon said it is scaling fast in India and these first investments will play a crucial role in reducing its carbon emissions in the countries. In the Asia-Pacific region, the company now has a total of 57 renewable energy projects.
In Europe, Amazon now has 117 renewable energy projects. Its latest investment included its first rooftop solar projects in France and Austria, as well as its first solar farm in Poland. The utility-scale project in Poland is one of the largest corporate solar deals announced to date in the country. By making this commitment Amazon is directly contributing to the Polish government’s goal of increasing renewable energy on its grid.
Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, founding partner of the RE-Source Platform said:
“With its landmark solar projects announced in Poland and France, Amazon has taken crucial steps towards its net-zero pledge, while supporting Europe’s own climate goals. As Europe faces skyrocketing energy prices, solar and renewable energy deals will strengthen Amazon’s strategic resilience, we hope to see more companies follow Amazon’s lead.”
Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019, committing to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, which is 10 years earlier than was agreed for the Paris Agreement. The Pledge now has more than 375 signatories, including Best Buy, IBM, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Siemens, Unilever, Verizon, and Visa. Amazon has also ordered 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, the largest order ever of electric delivery vehicles, and has started to roll them out across the U.S. The company is also investing $2 billion in the development of decarbonizing services and solutions through The Climate Pledge Fund.
Corporate support of new renewable energy projects like Amazon’s helps broaden the market for additional wind and solar farms and expedites the decarbonisation of the grid.
In South America, Amazon announced its first renewable energy project in the form of 122MW solar farm in Brazil. In addition to providing renewable power to Amazon’s operations in the region, this project will also provide economic benefits to the local economy and the region’s biodiversity. The project includes a $380,000 (R$2 million) investment in environmental programs during construction to protect and promote biodiversity. It is estimated that the project will create 850 jobs during the construction phase, with an additional 30 permanent jobs once the project becomes operational.
In North America, Amazon is adding 1 GW of clean energy capacity across the South-eastern U.S., including the company’s first two renewable energy projects in Louisiana. The company now has a total of 202 projects across North America.
The company also announced that it is working through the Clean Energy Buyers Institute's (CEBI) Beyond the Megawatt initiative to help scale the benefits of investments in the renewable energy sector as it continues to grow. This will ensure that the industry is maximising the economic, environmental, and social impact of energy procurement.
Miranda Ballentine, chief executive officer of Clean Energy Buyers Association and Clean Energy Buyers Institute (CEBI) said:
"As a key leader in the CEBA community, Amazon continues to demonstrate that when it commits to a vision, it drives a pace and scale that's a new bar to follow. Amazon also continues to be a leader in not only deploying today's clean energy procurement tools at scale, but also in leading its community of peers and partners in developing tomorrow's clean energy solutions, whether that's focusing on ensuring renewables have sustainable supply chains or expanding the impact of clean energy through next generation procurement tools."
During New York Climate Week, Amazon also revealed that it has signed an agreement with renewable fuels technology company Infinium to begin powering its transportation fleet using low-carbon fuels from 2023.
Further to this, Amazon reported plans to invest $10m to help launch the Water.org Water & Climate Fund, which hopes to provide clean water and sanitation solutions to more than 100 million people across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
