Amazon brings 50MW onshore wind farm online in Scotland
Amazon’s 50MW Scottish onshore wind farm now in operation thanks to PPA with ScottishPower Renewables
Amazon’s first renewable energy project in Scotland is now operational, the tech giant announced today, with the 50MW onshore wind farm on the Kintyre Peninsula now delivering electricity to the grid thanks to a power purchase agreement (PPA) with developer ScottishPower Renewables.
Energy generated from the project, which is one of the UK’s largest operational subsidy-free wind farms, is set to be used to power Amazon’s data centres, corporate offices and fulfilment centres across the UK.
The 14-turbine wind project, which boasts enough capacity to meet the power needs of 46,000 average UK homes, is the first of four new large-scale renewable energy projects in the UK being developed by Amazon via PPAs.
Others include a 350MW Moray West offshore wind farm off the northeast coast of Scotland, which was announced earlier this year. Altogether, the four projects are set to provide a total capacity of 529MW, according to Amazon, which is Europe’s largest corporate buyer of clean electricity.
The announcement brings Amazon a step closer towards its goal of powering its operations with 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025.
“We are excited that our first Scottish windfarm is now contributing to that goal, and we have three more large-scale renewable projects in development across the UK,” said Amazon’s UK country manager John Boumphrey. “Investing in clean energy and working across all of our operations to become more efficient is just one of the many actions we are taking to reach our commitment as part of The Climate Pledge to be net-zero carbon by 2040.”
It came as Amazon earlier this week announced three new clean technology investments as part of its $2bn Climate Pledge Fund.
Companies to secure investment include Resilient Power, an EV charging infrastructure company; ultra-low carbon renewable fuels company Infinium; and CMC Machinery, which makes custom-sized boxes to replace single-use plastic packaging.
The $2bn investment programme was launched last year to support the development products and services that could help Amazon and other companies achieve their net zero goals, and has to date invested in 11 businesses. Amazon and over 200 companies have committed to reaching net zero by 2040 through The Climate Pledge.
“We’re proud to invest in these innovative technologies through The Climate Pledge Fund, and we continue to search for and identify revolutionary companies that are uniquely positioned to help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Kara Hurst, vice president and head of worldwide sustainability at Amazon. “These companies span multiple industries and offer new pathways for Amazon to achieve the goals of The Climate Pledge, a commitment co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism for companies to become net zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.”
Texas-based Resilient Power is developing EV charging infrastructure which it claims offers one-tenth the size and installation time of traditional EV charging technology, while being capable of charging up to 24 vehicles at a time without expensive grid upgrades. Amazon plans to roll out a delivery fleet of 100,000 EVs over the next decade and expects the new technology to support the company’s transport decarbonisation goals and even expand its EV delivery fleet in coming years, it said.
Another firm securing Amazon backing today is Infinium, which is developing ultra-low carbon Electrofuels to help the tech giant transition to low-carbon transport. The renewable fuel can be used in air, marine and motor transport as an alternative to fossil-based fuels, it claims.
And finally, CMC Machinery has also secured backing today for its sustainable packaging boxes which are tailored to a product’s size in a bid to drive down the need for single-use packaging. The innovation is expected to help Amazon slash one billion plastic air pillows from its packaging by 2022.
Previous Climate Pledge Fund investments have included carbon capture technology and low-carbon transport technologies.
