(Photo: Amazon)
Amazon announced on 20 a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola, with the US retail giant procuring 159 MW from the UK-based East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm.
The renewable offtake deal will generate over 77,000 GWh of green power each year. Set to become operational in 2026, East Anglia THREE is projected to produce enough clean energy to power more than 1.3 million UK homes, making it the second-largest offshore wind farm in the world.
The deal is the latest in a series of PPAs the retailer has inked with Iberdrola for projects across Germany, the US, and elsewhere in Britain. In total, Amazon has contracted 54,000 GWh of renewable energy from Iberdrola.
East Anglia offshore wind farm. (Photo: Scottish Power)
Amazon announced in Jan. that it had retained its position as the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable power for the fourth consecutive year, according to data from Bloomberg NEF.
The company claims it is already five years ahead of its initial goal of powering 100% of its operational electricity with renewables by 2030. The addition of new capacity from East Anglia THREE contributes to this goal. Amazon’s aim is to achieve net-zero emissions across its operations by 2040.
Amazon’s own operational emissions, categorized as scope 1, accounted for 14.4 million tons of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) in 2022, constituting less than one-fifth of its total emissions for the same year, which amounted to 71.27 million tons of CO2e.
Amazon's emissions have increased by about 40% since 2019, although there was a slight decrease of 0.4% in 2022 compared to 2021, as indicated in its latest sustainability report.
To put this into perspective, Amazon's emissions for 2022 are comparable to the annual national emissions of countries like Austria and Norway, which are 77 million tons and 72 million tons of CO2e respectively.
