Amazon is now the world's largest buyer of renewable energy

Amazon has revealed a significant investment in renewable energy projects around the world as it looks to make AWS the greenest cloud option for customers.

At its AWS re:Invent 2021 conference in Las Vegas, the company announced 18 new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects across the US, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK.

The news, which makes Amazon the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world, means AWS's renewable energy capacity will now total more than 12 GW and 33,700 gigawatt hours (GWh) when the current projects are fully realized - enough to power more than three million US homes for a year.

Going green

The announcement also means Amazon now operates 274 renewable energy projects globally, and is well on track to its goal of being able to power 100% of its business operations with renewable energy by 2025 - which itself is five years earlier than its original aim of 2030.

“We are moving quickly and deliberately to reduce our carbon emissions and address the climate crisis,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon. “Significant investments in renewable energy globally are an important step in delivering on The Climate Pledge, our commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. Renewable energy projects also bring new investment, green jobs, and advance the decarbonization of the electricity systems in communities around the world.”

The new projects, which includes a third solar project in Italy, alongside a new wind project in Northern Ireland and four new solar projects in Spain, means Amazon has added 5.6 gigawatts (GW) of procured capacity to date in 2021.

In its home country of the US, Amazon has added eight new projects, including its first solar projects in Arizona and Georgia, and additional projects in Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.

The company's 274 global projects now include 105 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 169 solar rooftops on facilities and stores.

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