Amazon invests in renewable energy in U.S. to reach 100 percent renewable energy by 2025
Amazon announced Monday it is investing in five utility-scale wind and solar projects across the United States, helping it reach its 100 percent renewable energy goal five years ahead of schedule.
With projects in California, Ohio, and Oklahoma, the projects will account for 618 MW of new energy procurement, the company said. The projects join four other renewable energy projects worldwide, making Amazon the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy globally.
“Amazon continues to scale up its investments in renewable energy as part of its effort to meet The Climate Pledge, our commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040,” Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said. “With these nine new wind and solar projects, we have announced 206 renewable wind and solar projects worldwide, and we are now the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe and globally. Many parts of our business are already operating on renewable energy, and we expect to power all of Amazon with renewable energy by 2025—five years ahead of our original target of 2030.”
Amazon will invest in its first solar project paired with energy storage in California’s Imperial Valley. The project is expected to generate 100 MW of solar energy, enough to power over 28,000 homes for a year. The project also includes 70MW of energy storage. Amazon will deploy next-generation technologies for energy storage and management as part of the project while maintaining the reliability and resilience of California’s electricity grid.
Other projects include a 118 MW wind project in Murray County, Oklahoma, and three new solar projects in Allen, Auglaize, and Licking counties in Ohio. The Ohio projects will account for more than 400 MW of new energy in that state.
“Amazon continues to play a key role leading the corporate transition to renewable power worldwide and demonstrating that ambitious renewable targets are both achievable and widely beneficial,” said Gregory Wetstone, President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). “The company’s nine new clean energy projects bring them to an impressive record total of 8.5 gigawatts of global renewable capacity and include Amazon’s first solar plus storage project, using advanced technology to help deliver a clean, reliable grid.”
Other projects include wind and solar energy projects in the United States, Canada, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. The nine projects will bring to 206 the total renewable energy projects Amazon has invested in globally, including 71 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 135 solar rooftops on facilities and stores worldwide, generating 8.5 GW of electricity production capacity globally.
“Leading companies like Amazon know the value that solar can bring to their businesses and the planet,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “We’re thrilled to see that Amazon is following through on its climate commitments and is investing in renewable energy assets across the world. Wall Street, customers, and international businesses are all watching what American companies are doing about climate change, and this type of leadership can have a major impact on the climate crisis.”
The projects will supply renewable energy to Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, Whole Foods Market stores, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers, which power Amazon and millions of AWS customers globally.
