Amazon announces 71 new projects for renewable energy
Amazon is expanding its renewable energy investments with 71 new renewable energy projects around the world, including its first renewable energy project in South America—a solar farm in Brazil—and its first solar farms in India and Poland.
According to the tech giant, once it is fully operational, the global renewable energy portfolio will generate 50,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean energy, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power 4.6 million US homes each year.
“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% 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,” said Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services.
Mitigating the impacts of climate change
Amazon has a total of 379 renewable energy projects across 21 countries, including 154 wind and solar farms and 225 rooftop solar projects, representing 18.5 GW of renewable energy capacity. By the end of 2021, the company had reached 85% renewable energy across its business.
“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,” said Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, founding partner of the RE-Source Platform.
Back in 2019, Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge, committing to reach net-zero carbon by 2040—10 years ahead of 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 US$2bn in the development of decarbonising services and solutions through The Climate Pledge Fund.
