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Amazon could now power 3 million homes through renewables

Amazon has added 18 new wind and solar projects across the USA and Europe

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Amazon has added 18 new wind and solar projects across the USA and Europe

The company's renewable projects will avoid nearly 14 million tons of carbon emissions when they're all operational

Amazon is adding 18 new utility-scale wind and solar projects to its renewable energy portfolio in the USA and Europe, representing 2 gigawatts (GW) of additional energy capacity.

Amazon's first solar projects in Georgia and Arizona, as well as additional projects in Texas, Ohio, and Virginia. In total, the company is launching eight new locations dedicated to renewables in the USA.

In Europe, the company is focusing on Germany, Finland, Italy, Spain and the UK. Its plans include solar projects in Spain, generating 630MW, and four wind projects in Finland, generating 158MW.

The company has unveiled a new wind project in Northern Ireland, and is also investing in its third project in Italy: a 40MW solar scheme.

Along with the company's renewable plans announced earlier this year, the new projects mean Amazon will add 5.6GW of sustainable electricity production capability in 2021 - a 40 per cent increase from the 4GW produced and procured last year.

The new projects bring Amazon's total committed clean energy production capacity to more than 12GW, which is equivalent to the energy use of more than 3 million homes in the United States.

Amazon now has 274 renewable energy projects around the world, making it the largest buyer of renewable energy worldwide. Of these projects, 105 are utility-scale wind and solar projects, while 169 are solar installations on facility and store rooftops.

Once all these projects are operational, they will help to avoid over 13.7 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year, according to Amazon.

The company says it is on the path to power its data centres, offices and warehouses with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025 - five years earlier than the original target of 2030.

"Amazon is wasting no time demonstrating that the company is fully committed to a clean energy future," said Gregory Wetstone, President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy.

"For the second year in a row, Amazon has set new records as it works toward fully powering its operations with renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of schedule."

Miranda Ballentine, CEO of the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA), noted that large-scale renewable energy investments such as those announced by Amazon should be the new normal for industries of all shapes and sizes.

"They bring good-paying, green jobs to local communities, and support progress toward our community's goal of a 90 per cent carbon-free U.S. electricity system."

Kara Hurst, vice president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon, said the company is moving swiftly and deliberately to cut its carbon emissions and address the climate crisis.

Ambitious climate targets have become a point of positive competition among big tech firms.

In 2019, Amazon pledged to be carbon neutral by 2040, a decade before the Paris Accord target for net zero emissions.

Last year, both Apple pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030, while Microsoft went one better and promised to be carbon negative. At the same time, Facebook and Google made commitments around water positivity.

Earlier this year, leading players in the European data centre and cloud infrastructure industry signed the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact - with a commitment to lead the European industry in a transition to a climate-neutral economy.

Computing will run the Tech Impact Conference next year, exploring the relationship between tech and the climate - including case studies about the road to net zero, how to go green in your data centre and supply chain, and how to make small changes with a big impact. For those who are passionate about the planet - and even those who are wary of the implications of rapid change - there has never been a better time to get involved.

Amazon could now power 3 million homes through renewables

The company's renewable projects will avoid nearly 14 million tons of carbon emissions when they're all operational

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