Amazon sets record with 2022 renewable energy purchases

Amazon set a new corporate record for the most renewable energy announced by a single company in one year during 2022.

The e-tail giant grew its renewable energy capacity by 8.3 gigawatts (GW) through 133 new projects in 11 countries in 2022. This brings Amazon’s total renewable portfolio to more than 20 GW, which the company says could generate the amount of energy to power 5.3 million U.S. homes, across 401 renewable energy projects in 22 countries.

Amazon’s renewable energy purchases add wind and solar projects on the grids that power its global operations, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers, fulfillment centers, and physical stores. With these continued investments, Amazon remains the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, a position it’s held since 2020, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

These purchases also bring Amazon closer to powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025—five years ahead of its original 2030 target. In 2022, the company announced new projects in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Spain, and the U.S., and broke ground in Brazil, India, and Indonesia.

The retailer now has 401 projects globally, including 164 wind farms and solar farms, and 237 rooftop solar projects on Amazon facilities. Once operational, Amazon expects its global renewable energy projects to generate 56,881 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean energy each year.

In addition to the 108 clean energy projects the company announced in 2022, Amazon is now announcing 25 additional 2022 clean energy projects. These include:

• Eleven new projects in Europe, including Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, totaling 372 megawatts (MW) of capacity.
• Four new projects in North America, totaling 918 MW of energy in Arizona, California, and Texas. A new solar project paired with energy storage in California allows Amazon to store clean energy produced by its solar projects and deploy it when solar energy is not available, such as in the evening hours, or during periods of high demand. Also in California, Amazon added its first on-site solar project at the Amazon Air Hub, where employees pack and handle freight and conduct planeside operations.
• Ten new renewable energy projects in India, Indonesia, and Japan.

"Amazon's clean energy portfolio doesn't just top the corporate charts—it is now “As we continue to launch new renewable energy projects around the world, we’re pleased to be on track to power our operations with 100% renewable energy, five years ahead of our original target. With 133 projects in 11 countries announced in 2022, Amazon had another record year,” said Adam Selipsky, CEO of AWS. “These projects highlight the diversity of our renewable energy sources and showcase our ability to bring new technologies to new markets and further reduce the impacts of climate change.”

Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019, committing to reach net-zero carbon by 2040—10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. The company is also investing $2 billion in the development of decarbonizing services and solutions through The Climate Pledge Fund.  

[Read more: Amazon launches $2 billion fund to promote sustainability]