Amazon – the online retailing company – will be constructing its second large-scale renewable energy project in Australia as part of the company’s commitment to sourcing about 80 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2024, up to a hundred per cent by 2030 and finally achieving net zero carbon by 2050.
The new solar farm in New South Wales is just one of the five renewable projects – with a total capacity of 615MW – announced by Amazon. The four others are going to be built in the US – two in Ohio and one in Virginia – and China.
“As a signatory to The Climate Pledge, we’re committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early and reaching net zero carbon across Amazon by 2040.
“These five new renewable energy projects are a critical part of our roadmap to reach this goal. In fact, we believe it is possible to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of the goals we announced last fall. While this will be challenging, we have a credible plan to get there,” Amazon Vice President of Sustainability Kara Hurst said.
The solar farm proposed for New South Wales is expected to generate about 250,000MWh of clean energy annually, enough to power up to 40,000 average homes in Australia.
To date, Amazon has announced 31 utility-scale solar and wind energy projects across the globe as well as 60 solar rooftops on the company’s fulfillment centres and sort centres. In total, the company estimates these projects will have a collective capacity of 2,900MW, delivering over 7.6 million MWh of renewable energy a year.
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Source: Renew Economy; PV Magazine Australia; Energy Matters; Renewables Now