Amazon recently announced investments in green hydrogen companies through its $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund as part of its attempts to decarbonise its global operations. The most recent investments have been made in Europe’s Sunfire and the US’s Electric Hydrogen, two companies that make electrolysers for producing green hydrogen. Reportedly, Amazon’s $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund aims to invest in forward-thinking companies across a range of sectors which includes energy generation and storage.
Using renewable energy, Boston-based company Electric Hydrogen creates plants that extract hydrogen from water. These plants are specifically made for the high-volume, low-cost production needed to support large-scale industrial activities. In a Series B equity and venture debt fundraising round, which raised $198 million for the company, Amazon was one of the investors.
A team of 400 specialists are employed by the German electrolyzer developer and producer Sunfire to work on more than 70 completed projects. The company intends to expand its production capacity from megawatt to gigawatt levels, offering significant industrial players massive hydrogen producing facilities. Sunfire’s expansion plans are supported by Amazon’s funding.
Amazon has so far invested in 18 companies that are pioneering technologies and business solutions that can help Amazon and others attain net-zero carbon by 2040. The few companies the Climate Pledge Fund has previously invested in are Rivian, Redwood Materials, Turntide, CarbonCure, Pachama, Infinium, and ZeroAvia. Amazon co-founded the Climate Pledge Fund in 2019 with a pledge to achieve the specified net-zero targets by 2040, 10 years before the Paris Agreement, and it already has over 300 signatories, including Best Buy, IBM, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Siemens, Unilever, Verizon, and Visa.
REGlobal’s Views: Amazon like other large corporates has been making significant efforts to decarbonise its operations through increased adoption of renewable energy. With green hydrogen gaining global traction, Amazon’s investments in this emerging versatile technology will help the company to accelerate its green energy transition.
