SEATTLE – April 8, 2019 – Today, Amazon.com announced a new renewable energy project in Ireland, part of a larger announcement that also includes new projects in Sweden and the United States, as part of its long-term goal to power all Amazon Web Services (AWS) global infrastructure with renewable energy. These projects will deliver wind-generated energy that will total over 229 megawatts (MW) of power, with expected generation of over 670,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually. The new projects are part of AWS’s long-term commitment to achieve 100 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. In 2018, AWS exceeded 50 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. For more information, go to https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/.
Amazon has committed to buying the energy from a new wind project in Ireland, a 91.2 MW wind farm in Donegal. The Donegal wind farm project, which will be developed by Invis Energy, is expected to deliver clean energy by 2023. The wind farm in Donegal will be built without any subsidies, therefore the project is not subject to the public service obligation (PSO) levy and will be undertaken at no cost to the Irish energy consumer. As such, it is the first unsubsidized Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) project in Ireland.
Amazon will also purchase 91 MW of power from a new wind farm in Bäckhammar, Sweden, which is expected to deliver renewable energy by the end of 2020. The wind farm project in Tehachapi, California is expected to bring up to 47 MW of new renewable energy capacity by the end of 2020.
Once complete, these projects, combined with AWS’s previous nine renewable energy projects, are expected to generate more than 2,700,000 MWh of renewable energy annually.
“Each of these projects brings us closer to our long-term commitment to use 100 percent renewable energy to power our global AWS infrastructure,” said Peter DeSantis, Vice President of Global Infrastructure and Customer Support, Amazon Web Services. “These projects are well-positioned to serve AWS data centers in Ireland, Sweden, and the US. We expect more projects in 2019 as we continue toward our goal of powering all AWS global infrastructure with renewable energy.”
“AWS’s investment in renewable projects in Ireland illustrates their continued commitment to adding clean energy to the grid and it will make a positive contribution to Ireland’s renewable energy goals,” said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. “As a significant employer in Ireland, it is very encouraging to see Amazon taking a lead on this issue. We look forward to continuing to work with Amazon as we strive to make Ireland a leader on renewable energy.”
“By 2030, 70 percent of Ireland’s electricity will come from renewable sources,” said Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton, TD. “Today that figure is at 30 percent. We must step up our ambition across the board. Projects led by the corporate sector will be a crucial part of our overall plan to deliver on this target. This announcement by Amazon is a landmark deal in Ireland, the first such corporate agreement in our country to provide unsubsidized renewable energy.”
“We are delighted to partner with Amazon and support them to reach their 100 percent global renewable goal,” said Emma Tinker, Chief Investment Officer, Invis Energy. “Building the first subsidy-free project in Ireland is an incredibly exciting milestone both for the country and for Invis Energy.”
Beyond the sustainability initiatives focused on powering the AWS global infrastructure, Amazon recently announced Shipment Zero, which is Amazon’s vision to make all Amazon shipments net zero carbon, with 50 percent of all shipments net zero by 2030. Additional sustainability programs across the company include Amazon Wind Farm Texas, which adds more than 1 million MWh of clean energy each year. In total, Amazon has enabled 53 wind and solar projects worldwide, which produce more than 1,016 MW and are expected to deliver over 3,075,636 million MWh of energy annually. These projects support hundreds of jobs, while providing tens of millions of dollars of investment in local communities. Amazon has also set a goal to host solar energy systems at 50 fulfillment centers by 2020. This deployment of rooftop solar systems is part of a long-term initiative that will start in North America and spread across the globe. Amazon also implemented the District Energy Project that uses recycled energy for heating Amazon offices in Seattle. For more information on Amazon’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.amazon.com/sustainability.
About Amazon Web Services
For 13 years, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. AWS offers over 165 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 61 Availability Zones (AZs) within 20 geographic regions, spanning the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Sweden, and the UK. Millions of customers including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
