Amazon has secured an agreement with Plug Power to supply 10,950 tons per year of green hydrogen for its transportation and building operations starting in 2025.
The agreement will see Plug Power provide enough hydrogen annually to power 30,000 forklifts or 800 heavy-duty trucks, contributing to Amazon’s Climate Pledge goals, alongside other initiatives, including the rollout of its fully electric delivery fleet.
As Amazon aims to hit its net-zero carbon target by 2040, 10 years earlier than the date set forth in the Paris Agreement, it plans to use the more climate friendly green hydrogen to replace grey hydrogen, diesel, and other fossil fuels to decarbonise its operations. Green and grey hydrogen are both produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen; however, the former does so using energy from renewable sources, whereas the latter relies on energy generated by fossil fuels.
Over 95% of Amazon’s current supply is made from fossil fuels, and in their latest annual sustainability report it revealed an 18% increase in its carbon footprint. To tackle this issue, agreements like this one are intended to promote the growth of green hydrogen, which is produced through a zero-carbon pathway using water and renewable electricity.
“Amazon is proud to be an early adopter of green hydrogen given its potential to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors like long-haul trucking, steel manufacturing, aviation, and ocean shipping,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon. “We are relentless in our pursuit to meet our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040 and believe that scaling the supply and demand for green hydrogen, such as through this agreement with Plug Power, will play a key role in helping us achieve our goals.”
To power Amazon’s operations using renewable electricity, more hydrogen-powered equipment will be made commercially available. Therefore, in addition to the supply contract with Plug Power, Amazon has invested in two companies developing electrolyzer technology to increase green hydrogen production.
The investment is part of the Climate Pledge Fund, Amazon’s $2bn venture investment program that supports the development of sustainable technologies and services, and has currently been signed by over 320 organizations who have committed to achieving net-zero carbon by 2040.
Amazon vice president of Global Engineering and Security Services Dean Fullerton commented: “We already have more than 70 fulfilment centres outfitted with hydrogen storage and dispensing systems, which will allow us to start using green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels. Today, we use that system to power over 15,000 fuel-cell propelled forklifts, with plans to grow that number to 20,000 across 100 fulfilment centres by 2025. That’s just the start. Across Amazon’s operations, we’re exploring and testing the use of other hydrogen applications, such as fuel-cell electric trucks and fuel-cell power generation stations providing electricity to Amazon buildings.”
Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh added: “Plug is fully committed to a green hydrogen future, and we are building a complete hydrogen ecosystem—from molecule to applications combined with a resilient network of green hydrogen plants around the world—to make hydrogen adoption easy for companies looking to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Securing this major green hydrogen supply deal with a customer like Amazon affirms our multi-year investment and strategic expansion into green hydrogen.”
“We are honoured to help Amazon meet its ambitious sustainability goals and look forward to possibly expanding our relationship with other hydrogen applications, such as fuel-cell electric trucks and fuel-cell power generation stations that could provide electricity to Amazon buildings and the deployment of electrolyzers in fulfilment centres.”
