How Amazon's Carbon-Free Energy Strategy Powers AI Growth

Amazon holds one of the largest corporate portfolios of carbon-free energy. Now, BloombergNEF has ranked the company among the world’s leading corporate purchasers of carbon free energy for the fifth year running, with the research firm placing Amazon at the top of the list.

Amazon has committed to developing more than 40GW of total carbon-free energy capacity across more than 700 projects in 28 countries. These projects include utility scale solar and wind farms, offshore wind installations, on site solar systems, battery storage and a growing nuclear energy footprint.

For an organisation that operates a vast cloud computing platform and expanding AI infrastructure, access to reliable energy becomes central to daily operations. Amazon states that the combined capacity of its energy portfolio is sufficient to power the equivalent of more than 12.1 million American homes.

For Amazon itself, the same energy portfolio supports energy hungry data centres that power its cloud computing and AI services.

Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon, explains: “When companies like Amazon invest in new carbon-free energy projects, we're not just helping to power our own operations; we're adding brand-new sources of carbon-free energy to the power grid that everyone uses – the same grid that powers homes, hospitals, and schools.

“These investments can also help spur the modernisation of the energy infrastructure that communities rely on every day, which helps keep electricity costs stable and affordable for families and businesses.”

Nuclear power

One of the most closely-watched areas of Amazon’s strategy is nuclear energy. The company places attention on small modular reactors, also known as SMRs. 

In Washington state, Amazon has agreed with Energy Northwest to fund the development of four advanced SMRs with an initial capacity of 320MW. The project allows expansion to 960MW. Amazon states that this level of generation provides enough electricity to power more than 770,000 homes.

The first units are not due to come online until the early 2030s. By that point, SMR technology aims to become a more scalable commercial solution for nuclear generation.

Amazon has also committed US$500m to X-Energy, a nuclear reactor developer. The investment supports a target of bringing more than 5GW of new nuclear capacity online in the US by 2039.

Maria Korsnick, President and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, comments: "Nuclear energy is the nation's largest source of clean electricity, providing reliable baseload power essential to meeting our energy goals.

"As electricity demand continues to grow due to AI and data centres, corporate investments in nuclear technologies like small modular reactors are critical to fuelling innovation while reducing emissions."

Solar, wind and the intermittency challenge

Solar and wind represent the largest share of Amazon’s renewable energy portfolio. Both technologies generate electricity without carbon emissions and operate at large scale across many regions.

However, solar and wind generation faces an operational constraint known as intermittency, describing the fact that solar panels and wind turbines cannot produce electricity continuously. Solar generation depends on sunlight and wind generation depends on wind conditions.

Because of this limitation, Amazon invests in energy storage systems that store electricity and release it when demand increases. Battery storage systems perform this role by storing excess electricity produced during high generation periods and delivering it later when generation falls.

Amazon currently operates 11 utility scale battery projects and aims to procure more in the coming years.

One example appears at the Baldy Mesa solar installation in the Mojave Desert in California. At this location, Amazon deploys AI driven software that analyses up to 33 billion data points each year. The system evaluates live grid conditions and determines when to store energy and when to release it.

This approach combines digital technology with physical infrastructure. By analysing large volumes of grid data, the software helps smooth supply during periods of high demand. Heatwaves illustrate this situation clearly because electricity demand rises quickly when air conditioning systems operate at full capacity.

Grid partnerships and data centre efficiency

Amazon states that its clean energy investments support regional electricity infrastructure and local communities.

In Mississippi, the company works with the utility Entergy to develop 650MW of new renewable energy capacity. The collaboration extends beyond generation projects, with Amazon contributing to Entergy’s US$300m "Superpower Mississippi" grid reliability campaign.

The programme aims to reduce outage frequency for residential customers by around 50%. 

Ray Long, President and CEO of clean energy organisation ACORE, says: "Corporate renewable energy procurement has become one of the largest drivers of new carbon-free energy projects in the US.

"Companies like Amazon that commit to long-term power purchase agreements provide the financial certainty that enables developers to build new renewable generation at scale – helping to meet America's growing electricity demands while establishing economies of scale that benefit all communities by adding low-cost carbon-free energy to the grid."