Online retailer Amazon is building a wind farm in Ireland and a solar installation in the US which will boost its renewables capacity by just over 68MW.
The 23.2MW wind project in Cork, Republic of Ireland, is Amazon’s second wind farm in the EU country.
The 45MW solar facility, in Pittsylvania County, will be the seventh Amazon solar farm in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
With this two installations, both due online in 2020, Amazon will have executed 66 renewable energy projects globally, with a total capacity of 1342MW.
The two facilities will supply clean energy to the company’s Amazon Web Services datacentres.
Additionally, Amazon’s investments in renewable energy were recently recognised in the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) 2018 Solar Means Business Report, which ranked Amazon first place in the US for the amount of corporate on-site solar installed in 2018, and second place for total amount of solar installed to date.
Amazon sustainability director Kara Hurst said: “Playing a significant role in helping to reduce the sources of human-induced climate change is an important commitment for Amazon.
“Major investments in renewable energy are a critical step to address our carbon footprint globally. We will continue to invest in these projects, and look forward to additional investments this year and beyond.”
Virginia governor Ralph Northam said: “It’s wonderful to see the announcement of these new projects, which will help bring more renewable energy to the Commonwealth of Virginia where Amazon has already helped bring significant solar energy projects online.
“Amazon’s new solar farm in Virginia will create jobs and economic development in rural Virginia, and will continue to build upon our role as a leading state for renewable energy in the US.”