The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Amazon ‘to make major investment’ in Scots wind farm
Amazon will invest into a Scottish wind farm as part of a global commitment to decarbonise.
The offshore project has not been named by the internet giant, which said it would generate 350 megawatts of power – the equivalent of energy for around 280,000 homes.
A map on Amazon’s website shows the project, described as “major”, as in the North Sea off the coast of Angus. It is understood the guarantee of the purchase of power will help the project to secure financial close.
It is the largest corporate renewable energy deal announcement made by any company in the UK to date, the technology giant said.
The announcement was part of a series of global corporate power purchase agreements. Amazon announced nine wind and solar energy projects totalling 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of electricity production capacity.
This brings its total investment in renewable energy to 205 projects and 8.5 GW.
The clean energy is used to power Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfilment centres, Whole Foods Market stores and Amazon Web Services data centres.
Amazon is one of the largest employers in Fife, with around 1,000 staff working from its Dunfermline fulfilment centre. It also has a base beside Dundee Airport.
Solar panels recently installed at the Fife base will generate the equivalent of power for 300 homes. The fulfilment centre had 5,900 modular solar panels installed at the site.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and chief executive, said he expected all of Amazon to be powered by renewable energy by 2025.
He said: “Amazon continues to scale up its investments in renewable energy as part of its effort to meet the Climate Pledge, our commitment to be netzero carbon by 2040.
“With these nine new wind and solar projects, we have announced 206 renewable wind and solar projects worldwide.
“We are now the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe and globally.
“Many parts of our business are already operating on renewable energy.
“We expect to power all of Amazon with renewable energy by 2025 — five years ahead of our original target of 2030.”
The Seattle head quartered company is also aiming to produce enough renewable energy to cover the equivalent demand of its smart speaker Echo devices.
Other renewable energy projects announced by Amazon include a 100MW solar farm based in California, a 118MW onshore wind development located in Oklahoma and additional investments in green energy projects in Sweden and Spain.
Last year Amazon agreed to buy power which will be generated by a Lanarkshire wind farm in the largest deal of its kind in the UK.
Amazon agreed a corporate power purchase agreement with Kennoxhead Wind Farm.
Once constructed, the 35-turbine onshore wind farm is expected to be able to generate enough electricity to power around 125,000 homes.
Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded the Climate Pledge in 2019, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040.
The pledge now has 53 signatories, including IBM, Unilever, Verizon, Siemens, Microsoft, and Best Buy.