Amazon broadens wind, solar dedication throughout the world

Amazon is leaning hard into a pledge to reach 80 percent renewable energy by 2024, with the announcement of four new wind and solar energy projects set to produce some 840,000-megawatt hours of energy annually across Virginia, Spain, Sweden, and Australia.

To date, the corporate giant already owns 86 renewable energy projects capable of generating more than 2,300 MW and 6.3 million MWh annually. These latest additions would, in the United States alone, allow it to power more than an average of 76,000 homes. The new Virginia project — to be located in Halifax County — will also mark its 11th such project there.

The Virginia solar project will produce 65 MW and generate more than 150,000 MWh of renewable energy annually. A separate, 82 MW solar project was also recently announced for nearby Pittsylvania County, which will benefit the company’s new headquarters and other Amazon-owned operations in the Commonwealth. It will also create some clean energy jobs for the region.

“We’re on a mission to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early as part of The Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon across our operations by 2040. These new renewable energy projects are part of our roadmap to 80 percent renewable energy by 2024 and 100 percent renewable energy by 2030,” Kara Hurst, Vice President of Sustainability at Amazon, said. “In addition to the environmental benefits inherently associated with running applications in the cloud, investing in renewable energy is a critical step toward addressing our carbon footprint globally.”

Other projects include a 122 MW onshore wind project in Västernorrland, Sweden, a 50 MW solar farm in Zaragoza, Spain, and, in Amazon’s first renewables move for Australia, a 60 MW solar project in New South Wales. Between the four projects, Amazon hopes to provide nearly 300 MW of energy to the grids supplying its energy.