Amazon announces new solar project in Victoria

Amazon has positioned itself as the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, announcing 26 new global utility-scale wind and solar energy projects totalling 3.4 GW of electricity production capacity. The announcement brings Amazon’s total investment in renewable energy in 2020 to 35 projects and more than 4 GW of capacity.

One of the 26 global solar energy projects is the Hawkesdale Wind Farm in Victoria, which — along with Amazon’s other worldwide renewable investments — will supply renewable energy for Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfilment centres and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres that support millions of customers globally. The 96.6 MW facility is expected to generate 325,000 MWh of renewable energy annually for the company, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of almost 52,000 Australian households.

“Amazon has become the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, and our latest local Hawkesdale Wind Project in Victoria demonstrates our commitment to investing in Australian renewable energy projects to run our business in the most environmentally friendly way,” said Adam Beavis, Managing Director, Commercial Sector for Amazon Web Services in Australia and New Zealand.

“Our push to use more renewable energy is one step on our path to net-zero carbon by 2040 as part of Amazon’s commitment to The Climate Pledge. To achieve these goals, we focus on four complementary areas: increasing energy efficiency in our facilities and equipment, continuous innovation in our data centres, advocacy at the global, federal and state levels to create a favourable environment for renewable energy, and working with various power providers around the world to increase the availability of renewable energy.”

The new investment in the Hawkesdale Wind Farm is Amazon’s third investment in an Australian renewable project, supplementing previous investments in two solar farms, one in Gunnedah and another in Suntop, NSW. Combined, the three renewable energy projects in Australia are expected to generate 717,000 MWh or renewable energy annually, equivalent to the annual electricity usage of almost 115,000 homes.

The announcement follows news that Amazon is investing in its second Australian AWS Region in Melbourne, which is expected to be available in the second half of 2022. Amazon now employees more than 3000 people in Australia and has invested AU$3 billion in infrastructure and its local workforce in Australia in the past decade.

“Amazon is helping fight climate change by moving quickly to power our businesses with renewable energy,” Amazon CEO Jess Bezos said.

“With a total of 127 solar and wind projects, Amazon is now the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy ever. We are on a path to running 100% of our business on renewable energy by 2025 — five years ahead of our original target of 2030.

“This is just one of the many steps we’re taking that will help us meet our Climate Pledge. I couldn’t be more proud of all the teams across Amazon that continue to work hard, smart and fast to get these projects up and running.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/martinlisner