Tech giant Amazon has announced that all electricity consumed by its operations, including its data centres, was matched with 100% renewable energy last year, with the company now the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally for four years running.
Amazon had previously set a target of 2030 to match all electricity consumed across its global operations with renewable energy, and has achieved that target seven years ahead of schedule, it said.
As part of its initiatives, Amazon has invested in more than 500 solar and wind projects worldwide, generating enough energy to power the equivalent of 7.6 million US homes.
This milestone is part of Amazon’s efforts to meet its Climate Pledge commitment of net-zero carbon by 2040, the company said.
‘We’ve known from the start that our path to net zero would have many obstacles and need to be adjusted for changes to both our business and the world,’ the company said. ‘Nevertheless, as with all of our long-term goals, we remain optimistic and focused on achieving them.’
Decarbonisation objectives
“Reaching our renewable energy goal is an incredible achievement, and we’re proud of the work we’ve done to get here, seven years early. We also know that this is just a moment in time, and our work to decarbonise our operations will not always be the same each year—we’ll continue to make progress, while also constantly evolving on our path to 2040,” commented Kara Hurst, Amazon chief sustainability officer.
“Our teams will remain ambitious, and continue to do what is right for our business, our customers, and the planet. That’s why we’ll continue investing in solar and wind projects, while also supporting other forms of carbon-free energy, like nuclear, battery storage, and emerging technologies that can help power our operations for decades to come.”
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Renewable energy projects
Since 2019, Amazon has enabled renewable energy projects in 27 countries, including utility-scale projects in India, Greece, South Africa, Japan, and Indonesia.
In the US, Amazon’s HQ2 in Virginia operates with zero operational carbon emissions, and the company has implemented nearly 300 on-site solar projects at various facilities.
In Mississippi, Amazon recently launched Delta Wind, a utility-scale wind farm, while it also announced a deal with Entergy to enable 650 megawatts of new renewable energy projects in Mississippi over the next three years.
In Europe, Amazon supports nearly 1.7 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity across six farms in Europe, while in the Asia Pacific region, Amazon has provided backing for more than 80 renewable energy projects, including 50 in India.
Kyle Harrison, head of sustainability research at BloombergNEF, noted that while Amazon’s commitment to clean power is a “massive challenge”, that the company is helping to “accelerate the transition to the low-carbon economy on a global scale”.
