Amazon Achieves 100% Renewable Energy Goal

Amazon today announced it has achieved its goal of powering its global operations with 100% renewable energy. It will achieve that goal in 2023, seven years ahead of schedule.

Amazon first announced its clean energy goal in 2019, pledging to match all electricity used in its global operations, including data centers, corporate buildings, stores and fulfillment centers, to 100% renewable energy by 2030. At the time, the company had 42% renewable energy.

Since announcing that goal, the company has committed billions of dollars to clean energy development and has become the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy over the past four years, according to Bloomberg NEF.

Amazon has invested in over 500 renewable energy projects worldwide, including over 240 solar and wind farms, 10 battery storage projects, 6 offshore wind projects and nearly 300 on-site photovoltaic installations.

Amazon added that its renewable energy portfolio will help avoid carbon dioxide emissions by about 27.8 million tons per year when all projects are operational.

The company’s renewable energy goal is part of its Climate Pledge ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2040. Noting the new milestone, Amazon said its path to net zero emissions is “changing in ways no one anticipated even a few years ago – driven in large part by the growing demand for generative AI,” which is driving demand for different energy sources. The company said:

“We knew from the start that our path to net zero would face many obstacles and would need to adapt to changes in both our business and the world. However, as with all our long-term goals, we remain optimistic and focused on achieving them.”

To meet growing energy demand, Amazon will continue to invest in renewable energy and explore new sources of carbon-free energy such as nuclear power, battery storage and emerging technologies.

Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon, said:

“Hitting our renewable energy target is an incredible achievement, and we are proud of the work we have done to get to this point seven years early. We also know that this is just a blip, and our work to decarbonize our operations will not be the same every year — we will continue to make progress while constantly evolving on our path to 2040.”