Amazon has invested in 26 new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects, making it the largest-ever corporate purchaser of renewable energy.
The tech firm’s total renewable energy investments to date will provide enough electricity production capacity to power 1.7 million homes in the U.S. for a year.
The latest purchase brings Amazon’s total number of renewable energy projects to 127, including 59 utility-scale wind and solar renewable energy projects and 68 solar rooftops on fulfilment centers and sort centers around the globe, with the latest projects totalling 3.4 gigawatts (GW) of electricity production capacity.
The 26 new wind and solar projects are located in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and the U.S. The new projects are Amazon’s first in France, Germany, Italy and South Africa.
Amazon has now invested in 6.5 GW of wind and solar projects that will enable the company to supply its operations with more than 18 million megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually.
The projects will also help accelerate Amazon’s net-zero carbon emissions target across its business by 2040. Part of that commitment is powering Amazon’s infrastructure with 100 percent renewable energy, and the company is now on a path to achieve this milestone by 2025, five years ahead of the initial 2030 target.
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, said: “Amazon is helping fight climate change by moving quickly to power our businesses with renewable energy.
“With a total of 127 solar and wind projects, Amazon is now the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy ever. We are on a path to running 100 percent of our business on renewable energy by 2025 — five years ahead of our original target of 2030.
“This is just one of the many steps we’re taking that will help us meet our Climate Pledge. I couldn’t be more proud of all the teams across Amazon that continue to work hard, smart, and fast to get these projects up and running.”
Last year, Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. The pledge now has 31 signatories, including Unilever, Siemens and Microsoft.
Amazon aims to reach its goal by continuing to reduce emissions across its operations by establishing a path to power its operations with 100 percent renewable energy, delivering its Shipment Zero vision to make all shipments net-zero carbon, with 50 percent net-zero carbon by 2030 and purchasing 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, the largest order ever of electric delivery vehicles.
