Amazon India launched two wind-solar hybrid projects of 300 MW (megawatt) capacity in India in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka on November 30 that once operational will produce 1,163 gigawatt hours of clean power, the company said in a statement.
Along with three solar farms in Rajasthan, Amazon now has five utility-scale renewable energy projects in India, or around 720MW of renewable energy capacity. Wind solar hybrids are sites with both wind- and solar-farms to enable a more consistent supply of clean energy to the electricity grid.
Also read | Amazon announces first utility-scale renewable energy projects in India
The projects were launched with Vibrant Energy, a subsidiary of portfolio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), to be located in India.
“As the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally, we continue to build momentum for our renewable energy investments in India. The two new projects represent Amazon’s first wind-solar hybrid projects globally,” Abhinav Singh, Director – Customer Fulfilment, Supply Chain and Global Specialty Fulfilment, Amazon India, said in a statement, adding, “We are on a path to powering our operations globally with 100% renewable energy by 2025 and have worked with government and industry stakeholders in India to unlock more corporate renewable energy procurement in the country. This year, we have reached over 720MW of renewable energy capacity through utility-scale projects in India.”
The new projects tie into India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) wind-solar hybrid policy, which aims to enable more such hybrid projects to efficiently utilise transmission infrastructure and land, and reduce variability in renewable generation, which improves grid stability.
Amazon India has said it would make its business carbon-neutral, that is generate energy from renewable energy sources to balance it out from energy consumed from fossil fuel sources, by 2040. In 2021, Amazon reached 85% renewable energy across its business. In Asia, Amazon has now invested in 17 utility-scale renewable energy projects with a total capacity of more than 1,600 MW across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Singapore, their statement added.
