{"id":299791,"date":"2024-02-04T16:20:35","date_gmt":"2024-02-04T15:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=299791"},"modified":"2024-02-04T16:20:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T15:20:38","slug":"inside-amazons-british-wind-power-grab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=299791","title":{"rendered":"Inside Amazon\u2019s British wind power grab"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turbines will power Amazon’s expansion \u2013 but some say the output should be decarbonising UK homes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Amazon announced it was buying up half the output from one of Britain\u2019s newest and biggest wind farms last week, it appeared like good news for Britain\u2019s net zero ambitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US giant committed to buying energy from Scotland\u2019s Moray West wind farm before it was even built, bolstering its bid to power all operations with 100pc renewable energy by 2025. The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, amid the positivity, some industry sources claim Amazon and other global firms are embarking on an energy \u201cpower grab\u201d that draws resources away from decarbonising Britain\u2019s homes and businesses.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal completed by Amazon comes after Vodafone bought up the output from five solar farms last year, located in Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Buckinghamshire and Dorset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar deals have also been struck by accountancy giant EY and Tesco, both of which have acquired energy from UK wind and solar firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon, though, has gone further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tech company\u2019s first Scottish wind farm, made up of 15 turbines on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, came online in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moray West is the latest addition to its portfolio<\/a>\u00a0north of the border, where it is involved in 26 solar and renewable energy projects with a total capacity of around a gigawatt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is roughly the size of a large gas-fired power station and enough to power more than 600,000 UK homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This all means that Amazon\u2019s operations, including both distribution and data centres, will become a lot greener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the company\u2019s carbon footprint is huge<\/a> and its activities and products generated around 71 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022, although the bulk of that was produced by customers using its products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lindsay McQuade, director of energy at the company\u2019s booming data centre division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), says: \u201cProjects like Moray West will play a critical role in decarbonising Amazon\u2019s operations and the UK grid, with this agreement demonstrating Amazon\u2019s commitment to this ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon is not alone in pursuing a corporate green energy strategy, as noted by Nathan Bennett, a director at trade body RenewableUK: \u201cThe market for renewable energy corporate power purchase agreements is growing at an extraordinary rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEurope hit a record high last year with over 16 gigawatts of new renewables capacity, a 40pc increase on the year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe appetite among companies is enormous, as they want to cut their electricity bills and support decarbonisation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Amazon, much of that energy will be used not to decarbonise existing activities but to mitigate the company\u2019s growth, especially that of AWS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This business has 165 facilities around the world, each packed with power-hungry servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Amazon announced it was buying up half the output from one of Britain\u2019s newest and biggest wind farms last week, it appeared like good news for Britain\u2019s net zero ambitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":299794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"When Amazon announced it was buying up half the output from one of Britain\u2019s newest and biggest wind farms last week, it appeared like good news for Britain\u2019s net zero 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