Yahoo Finance Amazon ranked #1 corporate clean energy buyer in 2023
Amazon.com (AMZN) was the top corporate buyer of renewable power in 2023, a fourth year of dominance by the American e-commerce giant as deals hit a record pace.
S&P Global tracks more than 70 markets for renewable energy procurement by over 2,500 corporations globally. Known as power purchase agreements (PPAs), these contracts, typically for solar or wind-generated electricity, have surged in popularity as large companies face pressure to limit emissions.
Amazon, Spanish multinational oil and gas company Cepsa, Meta Platforms (META), Google parent Alphabet (GOOG), and Brazilian aluminum producer Albras rounded out S&P Global’s top five buyers last year.
Amazon says its solar and wind portfolio now tops 500 projects globally, which it estimates are enough to power 7.2 million U.S. homes each year. Canada is among the jurisdictions where the tech company has invested in renewable power generation.
S&P Global notes new leaders in the top 10 this year came from a more diversified range of sectors, including materials and mineral extraction.
Last month, an analysis by BloombergNEF also ranked Amazon number one for a fourth year. Meta was runner-up, followed by U.S. chemical firm LyondellBasell (LYB), and Google.
Overall, S&P found a record 2,000 deals were registered in 2023, despite a four per cent capacity contracting decrease to 54 gigawatts (GW) of clean power. Solar was the dominant electricity source, accounting for 46 per cent of deals, followed by hybrid (25 per cent) and onshore wind (19 per cent).
According to the BloombergNEF numbers, corporations publicly announced a record 46GW of solar and wind contracts in 2023, 12 per cent more than the previous record of 41GW in 2022.
“It has never been easier to buy clean energy as a corporation,” said Kyle Harrison, head of sustainability research at BloombergNEF. “These contracts are now the centrepiece in many companies’ sustainability strategies, rather than a nice-to-have.”
In 2023, North America’s market slowed. Both S&P Global and BloombergNEF point to Europe as last year’s growth story. Asia-Pacific has also emerged as a hub for procurement, establishing itself as the market with the highest number of deals.
“North American markets declined by nearly 20 per cent, owing to high interest rates, high capital costs and project delays,” S&P Global climate and sustainability senior research analyst Emma Xie wrote in a report.
“Europe is the engine for corporate procurement growth in 2023,” she added. “Moderating prices for PPAs and strengthened corporate commitments led European corporate procurement markets to grow by 52 per cent and reach an unprecedented 20GW, making Europe the largest market globally.”
Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.
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