Amazon, Mitsubishi inks 22MW power purchase deal

The project consists of numerous ground-mounted solar installations currently in development.

Amazon and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) have entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 22 megawatt (MW) solar project in Japan.

Operated by MC’s retail subsidiary, MC Retail Energy, the unique solar project is aggregated, which means that it is made up of numerous ground-mounted solar installations currently in development across more than 450 sites throughout Greater Tokyo and Tohoku areas. 

The project is expected to come online in 2022 and 2023, and once all installations become operational, the entire project is expected to generate 23,000-MW hours of renewable electricity each year, which is equivalent to annually powering more than 5,600 average households in Japan. 

This is the first aggregated solar project of this scale to be backed by a corporate PPA in Japan, helping to pave the way for new approaches to purchasing renewable energy in the country.

“This solar project, in collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation, is important to our renewable energy commitment in the Asia Pacific region, where corporations often face challenges in procuring renewable energy due to limited availability, regulatory complexity, and high costs. As a first-of-its-kind corporate PPA in Japan, it will also help to increase the availability and affordability of renewable energy in the country for others by enabling new capacity beyond what is available in the grid today,” said Nat Sahlstrom, Director of Amazon Energy.

Amazon aims to have all of its power consumption as renewable energy by 2030 and aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.