Amazon Becomes Europe’s Largest Corporate Purchaser of Renewables

Amazon has acquired nine new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. 

The company now has 206 renewable energy projects globally – including 71 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 135 solar rooftops on facilities and stores – which will generate 8.5 GW of electricity production capacity. With this latest announcement, Amazon is now the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in Europe, with more than 2.5 GW of renewable energy capacity.

These projects supply renewable energy to Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, Whole Foods Market stores and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers. 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.

“Amazon continues to scale up its investments in renewable energy as part of its effort to meet The Climate Pledge,” says Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “With these nine new wind and solar projects, we have announced 206 renewable wind and solar projects worldwide. Many parts of our business are already operating on renewable energy, and we expect to power all of Amazon with renewable energy by 2025 – five years ahead of our original target of 2030.”

The nine new wind and solar projects in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. include:

• Based in California’s Imperial Valley, Amazon’s first solar+storage project generates 100 MW of solar energy and includes 70 MW of energy storage. The project allows Amazon to deploy next-generation technologies for energy storage and management while maintaining the reliability and resilience of California’s electricity grid.
• Amazon unveiled its first renewable energy investment in Canada – an 80 MW solar project in Newell County, Alberta. Once complete, it will produce over 195,000 MWh of renewable energy to the grid.
• Amazon’s newest project in the U.K. is a 350 MW wind farm off the coast of Scotland and is Amazon’s largest in the country. It is also the largest corporate renewable energy deal announced by any company in the U.K. to date.
• The company’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.

To learn more about Amazon’s Climate Pledge and sustainability efforts, click here.

Photo: A map of all of Amazon’s renewable energy projects around the world can be found, here.

Original Source: https://solarindustrymag.com/amazon-becomes-europes-largest-corporate-purchaser-of-renewables