Amazon: investing in renewable energy is a critical step
Amazon has announced three new renewable energy projects in the US and Spain that support Amazon’s commitment to The Climate Pledge and reaching 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy target by 2030 on its path to net zero carbon by 2040.
Amazon is committed to major investments in renewable energy as a critical step toward addressing the company’s carbon footprint globally, and Amazon’s newest renewable energy project in Europe will be the company’s first large-scale project in Spain, located southeast of Sevilla. Once complete, the new solar farm will provide 149 megawatts (MW) of new renewable capacity.
Amazon’s newest renewable energy solar projects in the US will be located in Lee County, Illinois and in Northern Virginia. Together, they total 180 MW and are expected to generate almost 400,000 MWh of renewable energy annually. This will be Amazon’s first large-scale renewable energy project in the state of Illinois and ninth in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Once complete, the three new Amazon renewable energy solar projects will provide an estimated 329 MW of additional renewable capacity supplying energy to the company’s fulfillment network in Europe and Amazon Web Services data centers, which power Amazon and millions of AWS customers globally.
To date, Amazon has launched over 70 renewable energy projects that will provide over 1,900 MW of renewable capacity and are projected to deliver more than 5.3 million MWh of renewable energy annually. These projects include 21 utility-scale wind and solar farms and more than 50 solar rooftops installed on fulfillment centers and sort centers around the globe.
“Earlier this year, we announced The Climate Pledge, setting a goal to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net zero carbon by 2040. We also plan to run on 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030,” said Kara Hurst, Director of Sustainability, Amazon. “We’re committed to investing in renewable energy as a critical step toward addressing our carbon footprint globally.”
“As we work to put our state on a path to 100% clean and renewable energy, Illinois is proud to have Amazon invest in a major solar project in our state,” said Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. “Addressing climate change will take all of us working together, and leadership from state governments and the business community will demonstrate how we can sustainably power a modern economy and create good-paying jobs.”
“I applaud Amazon for their investment in renewable energy projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Virginia Senator Mark R. Warner. “This solar energy project will generate 80 megawatts of renewable energy, which will help lead to a cleaner and healthier environment.”
To track progress toward these goals, Amazon launched a new sustainability 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 new 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 by teams across Amazon.
