Amazon’s upcoming renewable energy investments

04 August 2019 by Grace Coleman
blog author

Amazon has revealed details of its latest renewable energy projects which are both expected to begin producing clean energy in 2020.

Its EU project will be an Amazon wind farm in Cork, Ireland, which is expected to provide 23.2 megawatts (MW) of renewable capacity (with expected generation of 68,000 megawatt hours -MWh- of clean energy annually).

The firm’s newest renewable energy project in the U.S. will be in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Once complete, the new Amazon Solar Farm will provide 45 MW of renewable capacity and should generate 100,000 MWh of clean energy annually.

Both projects will supply clean energy to the company’s Amazon Web Services data centers, which power Amazon and millions of AWS customers worldwide.

They will support Amazon’s goal to power 100 percent of its global operations with renewable energy.

The company was recently ranked #1 in the U.S. for the amount of corporate on-site solar it installed in 2018 and ranked #2 for the total amount of solar installed to date. Its investments were recognized in the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) 2018 Solar Means Business Report.

Amazon has 66 renewable energy projects across the globe – including 51 solar rooftops – that have the capacity to generate 1,342 MW and deliver more than 3.9 million MWh of energy a year.

Its U.S. solar projects have offset the CO2 equivalent of more than 200 million miles of truck deliveries.

Kara Hurst, director of sustainability at Amazon, said: “Playing a significant role in helping to reduce the sources of human-induced climate change is an important commitment for Amazon.

“Major investments in renewable energy are a critical step to address our carbon footprint globally. We will continue to invest in these projects and look forward to additional investments this year and beyond.”

Richard Bruton, Ireland’s minister for communications, climate action and environment, said: “Under the Climate Action Plan, we are committing that 70 percent of Ireland’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2030. Industry leadership is key to helping us reach this target.

“This project is another example of AWS’s commitment to renewable projects in Ireland, adding clean energy to the grid, and supporting Ireland’s climate commitments. Construction will begin on this project this year and will start contributing to Ireland’s renewable energy capacity by 2020. We look forward to continuing to work with AWS as we strive to make Ireland a leader in the renewable energy space.”

Mark R. Warner, Virginia senator, said: “I applaud Amazon for their continued investment in clean and renewable energy projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“This solar energy project in Pittsylvania County will lead to a cleaner environment and more jobs in the community.”
Ralph Northam, Virginia governor, said: “It’s wonderful to see the announcement of these new projects, which will help bring more renewable energy to the Commonwealth of Virginia where Amazon has already helped bring significant solar energy projects online.

“Amazon’s new solar farm in Virginia will create jobs and economic development in rural Virginia, and will continue to build upon our role as a leading state for renewable energy in the U.S.”

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