Amazon

David Riester of Lacuna Sustainable Investments, looks at how, on the journey from concept to monetized power plant, renewables and energy storage projects tend to get tugged toward ‘zero’ margin, from either direction. The further the rubber band is stretched, the stronger the pull back toward zero.

Chinese PV heavyweight Canadian Solar has announced an offtake deal for its Gunnedah solar project with e-commerce giant Amazon in the Australian state of New South Wales. The e-commerce giant also plans to build a 50 MW solar plant near Zaragoza, in eastern Spain.

Corporations contracted a record amount of wind and solar energy through power purchase agreements in 2019, up more than 40% from the previous year’s record, says a new report from BloombergNEF. The bulk of this purchasing occurred in the U.S. with tech companies and oil and gas majors leading the charge.

The solar project, southeast of Seville, will power Amazon Web Services data centers and logistics locations, and is expected to start generating next year. The company has launched its Climate Pledge with the aim of complying with the Paris Agreement 10 years early by neutralizing carbon emissions by 2040, and of operating with 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030.

Amazon unveiled a number of new climate initiatives this week, including 80% renewables by 2024, zero emissions by 2040, a fleet of 100,000 electric vans and a $100 million investment in reforestation measures.

The e-commerce group will invest an undisclosed sum in a 45 MW solar array in the U.S. state of Virginia. It also plans to invest in a 23.2 MW wind farm in Ireland.

Re-Source Platform, which is administered by SolarPower Europe and WindEurope, sees more than 50 multinational corporations including Facebook, Google and Amazon sign letter to European Energy Ministers calling for removal of regulatory barriers on corporate renewable PPAs.

The funds will be used to provide financing for residential PV projects across all of the nine states that form the so-called Amazônia Legal.

The company’s solar installations planned for 15 fulfillment centers this year will be followed by another 35 by 2020