Friday 22 May 2020

Amazon announces five new renewable energy projects

Five new renewable energy projects in China, Australia and the US will support Amazon's commitment to reach 80% renewable energy by 2024, 100% renewable energy by 2030 and net zero carbon by 2040.

When complete, the projects totalling 615MW of installed capacity will supply approximately 1.2 million MWh of additional renewable energy to the grids that provide the company's fulfilment network and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres, which power Amazon and millions of customers globally.

The first facility in China is a 100MW solar project which is expected to generate 128,000MWh of clean energy annually.

A 105MW solar project in New South Wales will generate 250,000MWh of clean energy each year, which is enough to power the equivalent of 40,000 Australian homes.

Two solar projects in Ohio with 280MW capacity and one 130MW solar project in Virginia will also be added to Amazon's renewable energy portfolio, providing enough power for 69,000 average US homes each year.

Kara Hurst, Amazon's Vice President of Sustainability, said: "As a signatory to The Climate Pledge, we're committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early and reaching net zero carbon across Amazon by 2040.

"These five new renewable energy projects are a critical part of our roadmap to reach this goal. In fact, we believe it is possible to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of the goals we announced last fall. While this will be challenging, we have a credible plan to get there."