Amazon is to invest in 14 new renewable energy projects in the US, Canada, Finland, and Spain as it zeroes in on its goal to power 100 per cent of its activities with renewable energy by 2025.
That means Amazon will reach its target five years early and sets up Amazon to become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world.
The company has now committed to 232 renewable energy projects globally, including 85 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 147 solar rooftops on facilities and stores worldwide.
The new projects announced today – once complete – will take Amazon’s total renewable energy investments to date to 10 gigawatts (GW) of electricity production capacity, which is enough to power 2.5 million homes.
Amazon will use power from the new projects in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres, fulfilment centres and corporate offices.
“We’re driving hard to fulfill The Climate Pledge – our commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “Our investments in wind and solar energy in the US and around the world send a signal that investing in green technologies is the right thing to do for the planet and citizens – as well as for the long-term success of businesses of all sizes across all industries everywhere.”
The 14 new wind and solar projects in the US, Canada, Finland, and Spain include:
- Solar projects in Arkansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio in the US.
- A 375-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Alberta, Canada which will go online next year.
- The company’s first renewable energy project in Finland, a 52-MW wind farm located near the country’s west coast, expected to begin producing energy next year.
- A fifth solar project in Spain, which will generate 152 MW when it begins contributing power to the grid in 2023.
This interactive map shows Amazon’s renewable energy projects around the world.
Footnote: 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 108 signatories, including IBM, Unilever, PepsiCo, Visa, Verizon, Siemens, Microsoft, and Best Buy. To reach its goal, Amazon will continue to reduce emissions across its operations by taking real business actions and establishing a path to power its operations with 100-per-cent 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-per-cent net-zero carbon by 2030; purchasing 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, the largest order ever of electric delivery vehicles; and by investing $2 billion in the development of decarbonizing services and solutions through the Climate Pledge Fund. There is more information here.
