Amazon and Engie open the largest agro-electric farm in Italy

Engie and Amazon today solemnly cut the ribbon on Italy's largest agroelectric farm. It will supply green energy to the Italian division of the e-commerce giant, according to the official Amazon website.

The power park will combine solar panels that produce renewable energy with agricultural farming, as it will generate electricity using photovoltaic panels placed high above the ground to allow the cultivation of agricultural products in the fields below.

The facility was inaugurated by Giorgio Busnelli, CEO of ENGIE Italia and Director of Amazon Consumables for Europe. The event was attended, among others, by Vanya Gava, Vice Minister for Environment and Energy Security.

The park combines renewable energy production with agriculture, which will contribute to the development and improvement of local areas.

It is the first agro-electric project in Italy conceived on the basis of a corporate power purchase agreement between two private companies.

Engie and Amazon have signed a corporate power purchase agreement under which the bulk of the electricity generated by a 66-megawatt (MW) power plant will go to the e-commerce group, according to a joint statement.

The agro-electric park was announced in 2021. It covers 115 hectares and is built in an agricultural area located between Marsala and Mazzara del Vallo in Sicily, Italy, and is the first of two announced by the companies.

The second renewable energy facility, also an agro-electric park, is located in Paterno, Sicily, Italy, and will be producing energy by the end of the year. The two plants will have a combined production capacity of 104 MW peak (83 MW AC), and an ENGIE study estimates that the two plants will help avoid more than 62,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The use of double-sided solar panels and trackers minimises the required space for the solar plant and maximises land cultivation.

The construction of the Mazzara del Vallo facility involved 150 people. Local plants, such as almond, olive and lavender trees, as well as aromatic and medicinal crops, will be grown in the agricultural zone of Mazzara del Vallo. This will ensure the preservation of the rural landscape and biodiversity, as well as benefit local farms involved in the cultivation.

Today, Amazon is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world with a portfolio of more than 400 renewable energy projects in 22 countries, including 128 renewable energy projects in Europe.

In Italy, Amazon has announced 22 renewable energy projects with a total production capacity of 115 MW AC, which can generate enough energy to power more than 90,000 Italian homes.

By the end of 2021, the company had reached 85% renewable energy supply across all its divisions and intends to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025.