(Photo: Amazon)
U.S. tech giant Amazon confirm Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ENGIE, procuring over half of the power available from Scotland’s Moray West offshore wind farm, securing its title as the world’s largest green energy buyer for the fourth consecutive year as of Jan. 30, 2024.
This wind farm located in the northeast region of Moray Firth, Scotland, boasting a capacity of 882 MW. Operated by the Ocean Winds, a joint venture between Spanish energy provider EDP Renewables and ENGIE, the facility is currently under construction and is anticipated to commence operations in early 2025.
Paulo Almirante, Senior Executive Vice President for Renewable Energy and Energy Management of ENGIE, expressed that this project aligns with the company’s development strategy, aiming to accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral world through investments in renewable generation technologies. The innovative nature of the Power Purchase Agreement highlights the potential to create conditions for UK to achieve its renewable energy goals and move towards a net-zero economy.
Amazon’s procurement scale of approximately 473 MW is poised to power over 650,000 households annually. This scale is expected to propel Amazon towards its goal of operating 100% through renewable energy by 2025, potentially achieving this milestone five years ahead of the initial plan.
The Energy Director for Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, Lindsay McQuade stated that, 90% of the company’s power was sourced from renewable energy in 2022. Project like Moray West are deemed crucial in Amazon’s decarbonization efforts and contribute significantly to the decarbonization of the UK grid.
McQuade expressed, “transitioning to carbon-free energy sources is one of the most impactful ways to lower carbon emissions, and is part of our Climate Pledge commitment to reach net zero carbon across our operations by 2040.”
In a press release, Amazon disclosed that in 2023, it has a total of 39 renewable energy projects in Europe, contributing 1 gigawatt (GW) of power to the local grid. With additional wind and solar projects in other region considered, Amazon is regarded as the world’s largest green energy buyer, maintaining this position for four consecutive years.
Amazon has globally invested in over 500 wind and solar projects, with the anticipated production capacity of 77,000 GWh once all projects are operational. This energy output is sufficient to power 7.2 million households.
Another tech giant, Google, also signed a PPA with ENGIE in November 2022. This agreement secures 100 MW of offshore wind power for Google’s data centers located in the UK.
