Amazon To Build Two Wind-Solar Hybrid Projects In India

US-based ecommerce major Amazon is building two wind-solar hybrid projects with Vibrant Energy, a subsidiary of a portfolio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), in India.

The two projects, to be built in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, will have a total capacity of 300 megawatts (MW), Amazon said in a statement.

The ecommerce major claimed that it will be one of the largest wind-solar hybrid corporate power purchase agreements (PPA) by a tech company in India. 

The two projects are expected to generate a total of 1.169 Mn megawatt hours (MWh) of clean energy each year once operational. According to Amazon’s estimates, this much energy could be used to power 380K average-sized households in New Delhi each year. 

The ecommerce major said that the wind-solar hybrid systems maximise clean energy use on the grid by combining two technologies with different generation profiles. 

The new projects support the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) wind-solar hybrid policy. Under the policy, the ministry aims to enable the efficient use of transmission infrastructure and improve grid stability.

“As the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally, we continue to build momentum for our renewable energy investments in India. The two new projects represent Amazon’s first wind-solar hybrid projects globally,” said Abhinav Singh, director of customer fulfilment, supply chain and global speciality fulfilment at Amazon India.

Singh added that Amazon is on a path to power its global operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. He said that the ecommerce major has worked with the government and industry stakeholders in India to procure more corporate renewable energy in the country. 

“This year, we have reached over 720 MW of renewable energy capacity through utility-scale projects in India,” Singh said.

Srinivasan Viswanathan, CEO of Vibrant Energy, said, “This collaboration between Vibrant and Amazon will encourage the adoption of renewable energy by corporates in India. We expect India to be one of the earliest markets in the world to deliver renewable energy through similar hybrid projects.”

This is not the first time Amazon has invested in India’s clean energy segment. The ecommerce major also has three solar farms in Rajasthan. In total, Amazon would have a total clean energy capacity of 720 MW through the five renewable energy projects in India.

According to InvestIndia, the country has a total installed renewable energy capacity of 160 GW.