Amazon has expanded Germany’s largest-ever power purchase agreement (PPA), signed in June, and announced another four deals to buy power from four wind farms in Sweden as the e-commerce giant and other electricity-intensive hyperscalers look to power their rising AI computing and data center needs with carbon-free electricity.
Amazon on Friday highlighted the signing of a PPA to purchase 600 megawatts (MW) of carbon-free electricity from the Gennaker offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea. By agreeing to purchase this energy, Amazon will give developer Skyborn Renewables the financial certainty needed to move forward with construction of the project.
The Gennaker offshore wind farm will be located off the coast of northeastern Germany and, once operational, is expected to generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of more than one million German households annually, Amazon said.
Moreover, Amazon also announced four PPAs in Sweden to purchase power from four new wind energy projects in the Scandinavian country.
With the new deals for wind power purchases, Amazon’s total carbon-free energy capacity in the country is closing in on 1 gigawatt (GW), equivalent to powering more than 350,000 Swedish households every year.
The four farms in Sweden are being developed by Eolus AB and OX2 AB, Amazon said in comments on the PPAs emailed to Bloomberg.
With the new agreements, Amazon has now invested in a total of nine utility-scale wind energy projects in Sweden.
“The world needs more energy, and it needs that energy to be carbon-free, reliable, and affordable for everyone,” said Gulfem Toygar, country manager for Amazon Sweden.
“Our wind energy investments in Sweden are part of how we’re helping to bring more carbon-free energy to the grid.”
Amazon and other giant hyperscalers are looking for carbon-free power – where available – to power their soaring electricity demand.
Last year, electricity demand from data centers jumped by 17%, and that of AI-focused data centers surged even faster, soaring by 50%, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report in April. These surges in AI-driven power demand vastly outpaced the 3% growth in global electricity demand.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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