Amazon today announced that we have added 39 new renewable energy projects in Europe so far this year, adding more than one gigawatt of clean energy capacity to grids across Europe. Amazon has now enabled more than 160 wind and solar projects across 13 countries in Europe. Once all projects are operational, they are expected to provide 5.8 gigawatts of clean energy capacity, enough energy to power more than 4.7 million European households annually.
The new projects include 15 rooftop solar installations on Amazon facilities, and 24 utility-scale wind and solar projects, including our first solar farm in Greece. The project in Greece follows our first utility-scale solar farm in Poland last year. Amazon’s investments in these countries help to accelerate the decarbonisation of those energy grids as they transition away from fossil fuels.
“With more than 160 wind and solar projects in Europe, Amazon is helping to provide new sources of clean energy to local grids, creating jobs, and supporting local businesses as we progress toward powering our operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025,” said Lindsay McQuade, Director of Energy, EMEA at Amazon. “Corporate investment is an important catalyst to help transition toward a clean energy future, and we look forward to continuing to work with governments, local communities, and energy providers across Europe to deliver more renewable energy into local grids.”
Amazon’s renewable energy investments stimulate local economies
Between 2014 to 2022, Amazon’s European wind and solar farms have helped generate an estimated €2.4 billion in investment in Europe and helped to contribute more than €723 million to the region’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to a new economic model developed by Amazon. The projects also supported more than 3,900 full-time equivalent jobs in 2022 alone.
The impact of our renewable energy investments is demonstrated by data identified through a new economic model we have developed, which follows guidance from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and is validated by the global independent economic advisory firm, Oxford Economics. The model applies to the utility-scale renewable energy projects that have begun construction or became operational between 2014-2022, or are expected to become operational in 2023, resulting from Amazon’s investments in Power Purchase Agreements.
New investments span nine European countries
Amazon’s investment in solar and wind projects has led us to become Europe’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, a position we have held since 2021 [1]. Our latest projects include rooftop solar projects in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, as well as new utility-scale solar and wind projects located in Finland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Amazon is on a path to powering our operations, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres, our fulfilment centres and our physical stores, with 100% renewable energy by 2025 —five years ahead of our original 2030 target. In 2022, 90% of electricity consumed by Amazon globally was powered by renewable energy sources.
See our global impact here and our full methodology here.
[1] According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance and based on publicly available data for 2022.
