Amazon announced Wednesday it will be opening a solar park in Kent County as one of 37 new renewable energy projects around the world with a goal of powering all its operations with renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of its original target.
The 74.4-megawatt utility-scale project will be named Amazon Solar Farm Delaware – Cedar Creek and will open in 2024, according to a press release from Steve Kelly, Amazon field communications manager.
“This will represent Amazon’s third solar investment in Delaware – with existing locations in New Castle County and on-site at our fulfillment center in Middletown,” Kelly said.
The location of the project in Kent County is still being finalized, Kelly said. He couldn’t confirm if it is the same solar farm east of Smyrna approved by the county in January named “FPS Cedar Creek Solar,” with “FPS” standing for “Freepoint Solar.”
Freepoint Solar did not immediately return a phone call and email about whether the FPS Cedar Creek Solar Farm near Smyrna is the one Amazon will be receiving power from.
Kent County’s Department of Planning Services director, Sarah Keifer, said the application process didn’t specify to whom FPS Cedar Creek Solar would be selling the power.
The county approves or denies the land-use application for a solar farm, not whom a solar company would be selling the energy to, Keifer said.
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Amazon’s new projects announced Wednesday are located in the U.S., Spain, France, Australia, Canada, India, Japan and the United Arab Emirates and include three wind farms, 26 solar farms and eight new rooftop solar installations at its buildings. The company now has a total of 310 renewable energy projects, including 134 wind and solar farms and 176 rooftop solar installations.
The new projects increase the capacity of Amazon’s renewable energy portfolio by nearly 30%, from 12.2 gigawatts to 15.7 gigawatts, and bring the total number of renewable energy installations to 310 across 19 countries.
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“Our commitment to protecting the planet and limiting Amazon’s impact on the environment has led us to become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world in both 2020 and 2021,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said. “Given the growth of our business and our mission to run 100% of Amazon’s operations on renewable energy, we aren’t slowing our renewable investments down.”
All of Amazon’s renewable energy projects combined are expected to produce 42,000 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, enough to power 3.9 million homes while removing the equivalent emissions of more than 3.7 million gasoline-powered cars annually.
Another of Amazon’s goals is “Shipment Zero,” to make all of the company’s shipments net-zero carbon, and that includes the purchase of 100,000 electric delivery vehicles.
Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate, housing and development stories. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.
