Amazon’s World Leading Green Energy Procurement Strategy
Amazon is the world's biggest corporate purchaser of renewable energy and has held that position for the last four years. Their renewable energy procurement strategy is a key element of the company’s climate pledge.
Amazon has invested in more than 100 new solar and wind energy projects in 2023, and the company now has more than 500 wind and solar projects in operation globally. Since 2020, the company has procured more green renewable energy than any other company, according to BloombergNEF.. The programme of renewable energy procurement is moving it closer to having 100% of the electricity powering its operations be linked to renewable energy sources by 2025.
“Amazon’s investments in solar and wind projects are helping power our operations, while also providing new sources of clean energy to the grid, spurring economic growth, and supporting jobs in the communities where our customers live and work,” said Adam Selipsky, CEO of AWS. “More than 90% of our operations were powered by renewables last year, but we’re not done. We’re focused on continuing to find innovative ways to bring new projects online, address grid constraints, and work with policymakers to mitigate the impacts of climate change, all of which is helping Amazon move closer to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2025.”
Expansion of Amazon’s renewable energy procurement strategy
A recent extension to their renewable energy procurement programme has seen Amazon sign a corporate power purchase agreement with ENGIE, increasing the amount of energy output from Ocean Winds’ Scottish Moray West offshore wind farm to a total of 473MW when the new site becomes fully operational. In total, Amazon announced 39 new renewable energy projects around Europe in 2023.
“Transitioning to carbon-free energy sources is one of the most impactful ways to lower carbon emissions, and is part of our Climate Pledge commitment to reach net zero carbon across our operations by 2040,” says Lindsay McQuade, Director of Energy, EMEA, Amazon Web Services (AWS). “We are on track to meet our ambitious goal of powering our global operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, and in 2022, 90% of electricity consumed by Amazon was attributable to renewable energy sources. Projects like Moray West will play a critical role in decarbonising Amazon’s operations and the UK grid, with this agreement demonstrating Amazon’s commitment to this ambition.”
Amazon investment in renewable energy procurement
Amazon’s ambitious renewable energy procurement strategy means between 2014 to 2022, renewable energy projects in the UK enabled by Amazon have supported the generation of an estimated £285 million in investment and helped to contribute more than £90 million to the UK’s GDP.
“Moray West reflects our strategy to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world, through investing in renewable generation technologies. Furthermore, the innovative character of this CPPA shows that it is possible to create, together with Amazon, the conditions to achieve the UK objectives of renewables deployment and net zero economy. This deal strengthens ENGIE’s leadership position for CPPAs, through which ENGIE has sold a substantial capacity of renewable electricity generated by its wind and solar assets,” said Paulo Almirante, ENGIE Senior Executive Vice-President Renewables & Energy Management.
“I am proud that the collective efforts of the Moray West and Ocean Winds teams, working closely with colleagues in ENGIE, helped secure this important deal with Amazon, prior to the Financial Close of the project and as part of an innovative and unprecedented route to market for an offshore wind farm. The programme for delivery of the power for Amazon is ambitious but the project and sponsor boards have supported us to keep the project firmly on track,” said Bautista Rodriguez, CEO at Ocean Winds.
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