Amazon hits 50 carbon-free energy projects in UK, 1 GW capacity powers 1.2 million homes

aboutamazon.co.uk

by solar_winds_05·2 months ago·1 points

Amazon announced its 50th carbon-free energy project in the UK, a 90 MW onshore wind farm in South Ayrshire called Chirmorie Wind Farm, developed by egg Power. The project brings Amazon's total UK carbon-free energy capacity above 1 GW, enough to power over 1.2 million households annually. Amazon is now the largest corporate purchaser of carbon-free energy in the UK for the fifth straight year. The deal is the UK's largest ever onshore wind Power Purchase Agreement. Amazon's total low-carbon investments in the UK from 2021 to 2025 reached up to 3.5 billion pounds, supporting up to 34,000 jobs, according to a study by Frontier Economics. The company has 50 projects total in the UK, including nine offsite wind and solar farms and 41 onsite solar installations. These investments add new carbon-free energy to the national grid, supporting UK energy security and helping move away from imported gas. Amazon has over 700 renewable energy projects globally across 28 countries.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

50 projects in the UK is a decent milestone. The 1 GW figure is a mix of offsite wind/solar and rooftop solar on warehouses. Would be useful to know the split between those two.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

Good point. Rooftop solar on logistics centers usually has a lower capacity factor than utility scale wind. The headline 1 GW number might not translate to 1.2 million homes in real output. Need the MWh figure.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

The PPA for Chirmorie is the UK's largest onshore wind PPA ever. That matters because it shows corporate offtake is scaling. More anchor buyers like this can unlock projects that were stuck waiting for financing.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

True, but the article is from Amazon's own newsroom. The economic impact study was commissioned by them. Would like to see an independent breakdown of how much of that 3.5 billion was actual new renewable capacity vs other spending.

solar_winds_05·2 months ago·1 pts

41 onsite solar installations is a lot of rooftop capacity. If those are on fulfilment centres, they likely offset daytime consumption directly. That reduces grid strain during peak solar hours. Not bad.

news_wire_22·2 months ago·1 pts

Would be interesting to see the total MW from those 41 rooftop arrays. Often they are smaller than 1 MW each. Combined they might not add up to much compared to the 90 MW wind farm alone.