Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces the co-founding of The Climate Pledge at the National Press Club on September 19, 2019 in Washington.
Paul Morigi | Getty Images | Amazon
LONDON – Amazon announced on Monday that it intends to buy half of the energy produced by a large new wind farm in the Netherlands.
Shell and Eneco acquired the right to build the 759 megawatts wind farm in the North Sea last year, and Amazon said it would now buy more than 380 MW of its production to power its operations in Europe.
Amazon said the “Amazon-Shell HKN Offshore Wind Project” would be the largest single-site renewable energy project to date. The offshore wind farm is expected to be in use by 2023.
The wind farm, located 18.5 kilometers off the Dutch coast and covers an area of 125 square kilometers, is operated by the CrossWind Consortium, which is a joint venture between Shell and Eneco.
It will reportedly contain 69 wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa that have a capacity of 11 MW and a rotor diameter of 200 meters.
The offshore wind farm will include five technology demonstrations that can be fully implemented in the future, including a floating solar power park and ‘optimal turbine tuning’.
Technology turns green
Like other technology giants, Amazon wants to use its billions to pay for more renewable energy sources and reduce its carbon footprint.
The company’s data centers around the world use large amounts of electricity to perform computer tasks for Amazon and other businesses.
Over the years, Greenpeace has accused Amazon of being relatively secretive about the energy sources it uses to power the centers, which are operated by Amazon Web Services.
Amazon has also been criticized for increasing pollution with its aircraft and vans, and for using excessive amounts of cardboard during the packaging of its products.
Amazon said that by 2040, the Dutch project will bring it closer to its goal of being carbon-free and by 2025 it could drain 100% of renewable energy, which is five years earlier than it had previously planned.
The company said it now has 187 solar and wind projects worldwide. It includes 125 installations on the roof of the sun on its enormous warehouses, which he calls a fulfillment center.
The largest solar roof installation in Europe is in the UK and it is equivalent to 28 soccer fields, meaning it can provide enough power for 700 homes for one year, Amazon said.
Amazon added that its renewable energy projects now generate more than 6.9 gigawatts and produce more than 20 million megawatts of energy annually.
Amazon claims to be the second largest buyer of renewable energy in the world.