
Image: Amazon
US technology giant Amazon is set to invest a new total of AU$20 billion (US$13billion) from 2025 to 2029 to expand, operate, and maintain its Australia’s data center infrastructure, with utility-scale solar PV plants set to power these.
This investment packages aims to support the strong growth in customer demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence(AI), accelerating AI adoption and capability. This aligns with Australian government’s vision to improve productivity and grow the economy by using AI innovation.
Although it has not been revealed exactly how many data centers will be developed as part of this funding package, Amazon noted the these will be powered via renewable energy, notably solar PV and wind power plants.
Amazon is investing in three new utility-scale solar PV plants in Victoria and Queensland, committing to purchase a combined capacity of over 170MW across these three solar plants. The partnership includes the 58MW Mokoan Solar Park in Victoria, which is already operational, along with two projects currently in the pre-construction procurement phase: the 150MW Winton North Solar Park (Victoria) and the 125MW Bullyard Solar Park (Queensland). Together, the three projects represent a total of 333MW in solar PV capacity.
Jens-Peter Zink, deputy CEO of European Energy, hailed the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Amazon while hinting that the company will continue to expand its operations in Australia.
“Our Australian operations are just ramping up, and we are delighted to be able to already now deliver this scale of renewable energy to our partners there,” Zink said.
In recent years, Amazon has become a major purchaser of renewable energy worldwide. It plans to decarbonise its operations while also supplying cheap electricity to power its data centres and tech operations. In 2023, the organisation added over 1GW of solar and wind power operations to its portfolio in Europe alone.
Amazon is already investing in eight solar and wind projects across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, supporting the energy needs of its Australian operations—including data centers and fulfillment centers. Once all 11 renewable energy projects are up and running, they’re expected to generate over 1.4 million MWh of carbon-free energy annually—enough to power about 290,000 Australian homes each year.