Amazon Continues Renewable Energy Investments with Wind and Solar Projects in Australia, Europe, and the US

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced four new renewable energy projects in Australia, Spain, Sweden, and the US that further support Amazon’s commitment to reach 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030 on path to net zero carbon by 2040.

Amazon is investing globally to enable new renewable energy projects as the company works towards net zero carbon by 2040. Amazon’s first renewable energy project in Australia is a 60 megawatt (MW) solar project anticipated to come online in 2021 in northern New South Wales. Once complete, the project is expected to generate 142,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of clean energy annually, which is equivalent to the annual electricity of almost 23,000 average Australian households.

Amazon’s newest renewable energy projects in Europe include 122 MW from an onshore wind project in Västernorrland, Sweden, expected to come online 2022, and a new 50 MW solar farm in Zaragoza, Spain, expected to begin operations in 2021. Once enabled, these projects have the capacity to power the equivalent of 158,000 average European homes each year.

Amazon’s newest solar project in the US will be located in Halifax County, Virginia. The 65 MW solar project is expected to generate over 150,000 MWh of renewable energy annually and will be Amazon’s 11th renewable energy project in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Separately, Amazon also recently announced a new solar project in Pittsylvania County that will power Amazon’s new HQ2 headquarters along with other Amazon-owned operations across the Commonwealth, including Whole Foods Markets and fulfillment centers. More information about the 82-megawatt project can be found on the AmazonDay One blog: https://blog.aboutamazon.com/sustainability/powering-hq2-with-100-renewable-energy.

Once complete, the four new Amazon renewable energy wind and solar projects will provide almost 300 MW and approximately 840,000 MWh of additional renewable capacity to the grids that supply energy to the company’s AWS data centers, which power Amazon and millions of AWS customers globally.

To date, Amazon has launched 26 utility-scale wind and solar renewable energy projects that will generate over 2,200 MW of renewable capacity and deliver more than 6.2 million MWh of clean energy annually – enough to power 560,000 U.S. homes. Amazon has also installed more than 50 solar rooftops on fulfillment centers and sort centers around the globe that generate 122 MW of renewable capacity and deliver 193,000 MWh of clean energy annually.

“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% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030,” said Kara Hurst, Vice President of Sustainability, Amazon. “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.”

“I applaud Amazon for their investment in renewable energy projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Virginia Congressman Denver Riggleman. “This solar energy project will generate 65 megawatts of renewable energy, which will create clean jobs for the region.”

To track progress toward these goals, Amazon launched a website to report on its sustainability commitments, initiatives, and performance. The site includes information on Amazon’s carbon footprint and other sustainability metrics that share the progress the company is making towards reaching The Climate Pledge. The goals, commitments, investments, and programs build on Amazon’s long-term commitment to sustainability through existing innovative programs, including Shipment Zero – Amazon’s vision to make all shipments net zero carbon, with 50% net zero carbon by 2030; sustainable packaging initiatives like Frustration-Free Packaging and Ship in Own Container, which have reduced packaging waste by 25% since 2015; renewable energy programs; investments in the circular economy with the Closed Loop Fund; and numerous other initiatives happening every day and led by teams across Amazon.
https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-continues-renewable-energy-investments-wind-and-solar

Related Posts

Stora Enso and Gasum to make renewable energy from wastewater in Sweden

Stora Enso and energy company Gasum have signed a contract to build a biogas plant at Stora Enso’s Nymölla paper mill in Sweden. The plant, built and operated by Gasum, will turn the mill’s wastewater effluent into renewable energy. Gasum plans to upgrade the biogas into Liquefied Biogas (LBG) and sell it as fuel for cars, buses, trucks, and ferries. The expected LBG production of the plant is 75-90 GWh per year, equivalent to the amount of fuel needed annually for more than 200 average long haul lorries in Sweden. Production is expected to start during 2020. “We are happy to be part of a project that will turn waste into valuable renewable energy,” says Michael Lindemann, Mill Director at Nymölla Mill. “For Stora Enso, substituting fossil-based fuels in our society with renewable solutions is a vital way to combat global warming. The cooperation with Gasum is a good example of the collaborative efforts Stora Enso is taking to do this.” Click read more below for additional detail.

Irving Woodlands LLC Releases its Annual Outcome Based Forestry Update for Maine

2015 Highlights include: Less road building (40% reduction); Operate on less of the landbase – less fragmentation of the forest; No increase in the percentage of clear cutting; Zero 3rd party certification non-conformances in independent annual (2015) audits of 145 forest sustainability indicators (FSC, SFI & ISO 14001); 3,400,000 trees planted; Worked with 30 commercial outfitters offering outdoor experiences in our woodlands; 228 voluntary conservation sites. Click Read More for additional detail.

External recognition and awareness raising: an expression of trust in PEFC

By buying PEFC-certified products, we can all help support local communities to continue looking after our forests. Learn more about the importance of supporting sustainable forest management from our CEO Ben Gunneberg! “Although we have already been reaching out to over a million people to safeguard the forests and to manage them in a sustainable way, we do have a problem. When the shoppers in the shop see a wooden product, they still think that they are participating in the destruction of trees,” he explains. “They are not realising that by buying these products they’re helping local communities and they’re safeguarding those forests that they love.”
Back To Top
×Close search
Search