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Amazon.com said on Thursday it is adding 26 new “utility scale” wind and solar projects around the world, including facilities in South Africa, bringing the total number of such projects to 127.
Although the company said little about its South African plans, they come shortly after its giant cloud computing subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) opened a data center “region” in Cape Town.
Seattle, US-based Amazon said in a statement that the 26 new renewable energy projects are located in South Africa, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The projects will deliver a total 3.4GW of power production capacity. Its renewable energy investments announced to date will provide 6.5 GW of capacity.
The new projects are Amazon’s first in South Africa, France, Germany and Italy.
The company was unable to immediately provide further information on Amazon’s renewable energy plans in South Africa when contacted by TechCentral. An AWS spokeswoman said the company “cannot at this time” share details of the investment. “As soon as we have details to share, we will send them to you.”
Zero net emissions
“These new projects will make Amazon the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy,” the company said in a statement. Its total investment announced so far means it will be able to power its operations with more than 18 million megawatt-hours of renewable energy a year, or enough to power 1.7 million American homes for one year, it said.
“These projects will provide renewable energy for Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, and AWS data centers … They will also help advance Amazon’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions in its business by 2040.”
Amazon said it is on track to power 100% of its infrastructure with renewable energy by 2025, five years before its original goal, CEO Jeff Bezos said in the statement. – (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media
