Amazon sets up 3 renewable energy projects in India; 71 new projects globally

Amazon has announced three large-scale renewable energy projects in India. All three solar projects are located in Rajasthan, and represent 420 megawatts or MW of clean energy capacity. This is the company’s first of its kind mega project in the Asia Pacific region.  

Renewable energy is derived from natural sources such as solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy and biomass energy that are replenished at a higher rate than they are consumed.  

Of the three projects to be built, the first one includes a 210 MW of clean energy to be developed by India-based developer ReNew Power, which is considered to be one of the largest solar corporate power purchase agreements (PPA) by a technology company in India.  

The other two include a 100MW project to be developed by local developer Amp Energy India, and a 110MW project to be developed by Brookfield Renewable. Amazon has executed more than 500 MW of renewable energy PPAs with Brookfield globally, and now 110 MW in India.   

According to a statement by the company, “Combined, these solar farms have the capacity to generate 1,076,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy per year, enough to power over 360,000 average-sized households in New Delhi annually.”  

Amazon’s solar projects in Rajasthan will help to increase the availability and affordability of renewable energy in India, by enabling new capacity beyond what is available on the grid today, it said in a statement. 

Additionally, Amazon announced 23 new solar rooftop projects on its fulfilment centres across 14 cities in India, having the capacity to generate an additional 4.09 MW of renewable energy. This brings the total number of solar rooftop projects in India to 41 with 19.7 MW of renewable energy capacity, which will contribute to powering Amazon’s fulfilment network in the country.  

“We are bringing new wind and solar projects online to power our offices, fulfillment centres, data centres, and stores, which collectively serve millions of customers globally, and we are on a path to reach 100% renewable energy across our entire business by 2025,” said Adam Selipsky, chief executive officer of Amazon Web Services.  

He added that globally too, countries are looking to “accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, and continued investments by stakeholders in this area can help accelerate their journey to mitigate the impacts of climate change.  

Amazon also announced that it is expanding its renewable energy portfolio globally, with an additional 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity across 71 new renewable energy projects. Besides India, the new additions include renewable energy projects in Brazil and Poland.  

The company is launching its first rooftop solar projects in France and Austria, and its first solar farm in Poland. In North America, Amazon is adding 1 GW of clean energy capacity across the South-eastern US, including the company’s first two renewable energy projects in Louisiana. Further, the first renewable energy in South America is a 122 MW solar farm in Brazil.  

Amazon expects its global renewable energy portfolio, once fully operational, to generate 50,000 gigawatt hours or GWh of clean energy, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power 4.6 million US homes each year.  

Amazon now has a total of 379 renewable energy projects across 21 countries, representing 18.5 GW of renewable energy capacity. These include 154 wind and solar farms and 225 rooftop solar projects. 

By the end of 2021, the company had reached 85% renewable energy across its business. 

According to a September 2021 report by Allied Market Research, the global renewable energy market was valued at $881.7billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $1,977.6 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2021 to 2030. Renewable energy, even referred as clean energy, is usually derived from natural sources that are constantly replenished.