A cleaner cloud
BP teams up with Amazon Web Services to supply renewable energy to its European datacentres
BP is to power Amazon Web Service’s (AWS) European datacentres with renewable energy, in a deal that is also helping support the construction of one of the largest onshore windfarms in Europe.
Starting in 2021, BP will begin supplying AWS’s servers with 170 megawatts of renewable energy each year – equivalent to the power used by more than 125,000 European homes.
The energy will be generated by a new wind farm in Västernorrland, Sweden, and a new solar farm in Spain. Over time, BP and AWS expect to increase the amount of clean power supplied to 400 megawatts.
AWS provides customers with computing power, storage and databases remotely, and on an as-needed basis. Pooling computing in this way is more efficient, but the huge scale of AWS’s operations creates large demands for power.
Thanks to BP’s global energy trading business – a 3,000-strong team working to match energy supply with demand around the world – more of that power will now be renewable.
The agreement also demonstrates BP’s ability to connect energy-intensive businesses with clean energy suppliers. And using its extensive trading capabilities, BP is able to pair different kinds of renewables – such as wind and solar – to help keep power flowing on cloudy or windless days.
“BP and AWS are both targeting reductions in emissions from their respective operations. One way BP can play an important role in helping our customers is by using our trading capability and scale to deliver
innovative, reliable and flexible supplies of low-carbon and renewable power to major corporate customers and partners”.
Robert Lawson, chief operating officer for global gas at BP Supply and Trading
