Web retail behemoth Amazon added a record 8.3GW of renewable power deals in 2022 to give it access to what has now reached a 'utility-scale' total 20GW-plus haul of green capacity, the US group said.
Amazon claimed last year’s burst of activity keeps it at the top of the global corporate renewable energy buyers’ league where it’s been since 2020 amid a green push that has often seen multi-billionaire founder Jeff Bezos take centre stage in hailing the company’s ambitions.
"Amazon's clean energy portfolio [puts it] now among the leading utilities globally as well,” said Kyle Harrison, head of sustainability research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, cited by the retailer.
Sometimes the target of criticism in other spheres of its business such as unionisation, its effect on competitors or wider impact on the environment, Amazon points to a long-time policy of signing renewable power purchasing agreements that it says have underpinned the bankability of numerous green projects.
Like other major corporate buyers from the technology sector such as Google and Facebook, the PPAs have been especially important in helping Amazon green supplies to its massively power-hungry fleet of data centres.
Last year’s deals – Amazon on Tuesday said it had completed 133 agreements – spanned European offshore wind, Texas and Californian solar and inroads into Asian markets such as Indonesia, India and Japan. The company’s forays last year included a California solar-battery project deal.
