Cloud Leader
Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) has partnered with Community Energy, Inc. on a renewable energy project in Accomack County, Virginia, USA. AWS is a globally recognized brand offering a range of cloud storage and platform options. Community Energy is recognized as a "pioneer" in renewable energy solutions including solar and wind energy. Together the two companies will manage the "construction and operation of an 80 megawatt (MW) solar farm" known as Amazon Solar Farm US East. The facility is expected to generate at least 170,000 MWh of energy on an annual basis from around October 2016.
AWS has data centers in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Singapore and the United States which cater to in excess of a million customers (both business and government) in 190 countries. The recent move underscores its policy of using renewable energy, a commitment outlined in November 2014 which stated a long-term goal of the company ultimately obtaining all of its energy requirements from renewable sources. In April 2015, AWS claimed around 25% of its usage was through renewable energy, with the company aiming to increase this to around 40% by the close of 2016.
“We continue to make significant progress towards our long-term commitment to power the global AWS infrastructure with 100% renewable energy,” explained Amazon Web Services' Vice President of Infrastructure, Jerry Hunter. “Amazon Solar Farm US East – the second PPA that will serve both existing and planned AWS datacenters in the central and eastern US – has the added benefit of working to increase the availability of renewable energy in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
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