Spanish energy company Iberdrola and Amazon have announced a new global collaboration to support the development of large-scale renewable energy projects and leverage cloud computing technology to enhance digitalisation in the energy transition.
The companies have agreed to collaborate on new wind and solar capacity by signing power purchase agreements (PPA) for projects in Europe, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific. The agreements will help Amazon stay on path to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 – five years ahead of its original 2030 commitment.
Two of Iberdrola’s offshore windfarms in Germany (Baltic Eagle and Windanker) will provide Amazon with 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) of clean energy each year, which is equivalent to the annual electricity needs of more than 314,000 European homes. Baltic Eagle is located in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Rügen and will have a total capacity of 476MW when completed in 2024. Windanker, also located in the Baltic Sea, will have 300MW of installed capacity and will be completed in 2026. The projects form part of Iberdrola’s Baltic Hub, which will have a total capacity of 1,100MW, making it one of the largest offshore wind clusters in the region.
In addition to the agreement with Amazon for renewable energy, Iberdrola has selected Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider. AWS will support the energy company as it embarks on further digitalisation to support smarter grids, customer engagement, and connected clean power. Projects include renewable energy production optimization and smart grid innovations like helping to develop the electricity substation of the future using Internet of Things (IoT) and digital twins.
Matt Garman, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Global Services at AWS, said: “AWS provides the reliability, scale, and cost-efficient IT infrastructure that will allow Iberdrola to optimize renewable energy production, modernize the power grid to integrate renewable energy sources, and enhance visibility across its operations.”
Iberdrola has an installed capacity of around 40GW of renewable energy. The company joined The Climate Pledge in January 2023. The Pledge is a commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040—10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019 to build a cross-sector community of companies, organizations, individuals, and partners working together to address the climate crisis and solve the challenges of decarbonizing our economy.