In 2019, we set a goal to match all of the electricity consumed across Amazon’s global operations – including our data centres, corporate buildings, and fulfilment centres – with 100% renewable energy by 2030. Today, we’re proud to share that we’ve met that goal seven years ahead of schedule. To get there, we’ve become the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world for four years running, according to Bloomberg NEF, and have invested billions of dollars in more than 500 solar and wind projects globally.
Achieving this goal is an important milestone in our efforts to meet our Climate Pledge commitment of net-zero carbon by 2040. Looking ahead, we remain as committed as ever to getting there, but the path is changing in ways that no one quite anticipated even just a few years ago.
“Reaching our renewable energy goal is an incredible achievement, and we’re proud of the work we’ve done to get here, seven years early. We also know that this is just a moment in time, and our work to decarbonise our operations will not always be the same each year—we’ll continue to make progress, while also constantly evolving on our path to 2040,” said Amazon Chief Sustainability Officer Kara Hurst. “Our teams will remain ambitious, and continue to do what is right for our business, our customers, and the planet. That’s why we’ll continue investing in solar and wind projects, while also supporting other forms of carbon-free energy, like nuclear, battery storage, and emerging technologies that can help power our operations for decades to come.”
Renewable energy in Australia
In Australia, Amazon has now enabled seven renewable energy projects. This includes four utility scale projects - an operational solar farm in Wandoan, Queensland, operational solar farms in Suntop and Gunnedah in New South Wales, and a wind farm in Hawkesdale, Victoria - as well as three rooftop solar projects on Amazon facilities in Melbourne and Sydney. Altogether, once operational, the projects are estimated to generate more than 1,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean power - enough to power more than 175,000 Australian homes. These projects are helping to power Amazon’s Australian operations, including Amazon data centres, and fulfilment centres, while also providing new sources of clean power to local communities and the east coast grid.
The company invested AU$467 million in wind and solar farms in Australia from 2020 to 2022. Globally, communities where Amazon wind and solar farms are located experienced more than US$12 billion in additional investment from 2014 through 2022.
Amazon’s renewable energy highlights
Since 2019, we’ve enabled renewable energy projects in 27 countries. To accomplish this, Amazon worked with policymakers to enable first-of-their-kind policies to help corporations support the construction of new solar and wind projects. In total, Amazon’s renewable energy portfolio will help avoid an estimated 27.8 million tons of carbon per year once all projects are operational.
There are teams of Amazonians around the world working on projects like these every day because, with operations as broad and complex as ours, there’s no easy way or single path to get to net-zero carbon. But we love taking on big challenges and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made so far.
Learn more about our energy and sustainability efforts here, and read 8 takeaways from the 2023 Sustainability Report.
