Amazon has signed a power purchase agreement with Statkraft for electricity from the planned Mossy Hill wind farm near Lerwick, adding 36MW of contracted renewable generation to its UK energy portfolio.
The eight-turbine Shetland project is expected to become operational in 2030, with turbine delivery planned for 2029. Amazon will take renewable electricity generated under the agreement, giving Statkraft a long-term commercial counterparty as the development moves towards construction.
Corporate power purchase agreements have become an increasingly important financing tool for renewable projects. A large customer commits to buy electricity or associated output over an extended period, improving revenue certainty for the developer while helping the buyer support additional low-carbon generation.
Amazon says it now has more than 50 carbon-free energy projects across the UK, including on-site solar installations and larger wind and solar developments. Combined capacity is expected to exceed 1GW.
The company estimates that the portfolio would generate electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 1.3 million UK homes, although the power forms part of the wider electricity system rather than being supplied directly to individual households.
Mossy Hill adds a distinctive geographic element. Shetland has extensive wind resources and a long history in energy, but large-scale renewable development has depended on transmission infrastructure capable of connecting island generation with wider electricity markets.
The project also arrives as electricity demand from technology businesses becomes a larger consideration in UK infrastructure planning. Data centres, artificial intelligence computing and cloud services require substantial and highly reliable power supplies, encouraging large technology companies to secure long-duration energy agreements.
Renewable PPAs can help match annual electricity use with carbon-free generation, but they do not remove the challenge of balancing supply and demand continuously. Wind output changes with weather conditions, leaving grid capacity, storage, dispatchable generation and market mechanisms important alongside corporate procurement.
That balance becomes more significant as technology loads increase. Data centres require high reliability, while new renewable developments are often located in regions with strong natural resources but comparatively little local demand.
Grid connections therefore influence whether planned generation can reach consumers. The UK is already attempting to accelerate network investment and connections as renewable energy, industrial electrification and computing projects compete for capacity.
Amazon has placed the latest agreement within a wider investment programme in Britain. The company said it invested more than £3bn in UK low-carbon technologies between 2021 and 2025, with external analysis estimating that activity supported up to 34,000 jobs over the period.
It has separately announced plans to invest £40bn in the UK by 2027 across its broader operations. Renewable-energy procurement forms one element of that expenditure as the company expands logistics, cloud and digital infrastructure.
For Statkraft, the agreement provides greater commercial certainty around Mossy Hill. Long-term offtake arrangements can improve project financing by reducing exposure to wholesale electricity-price volatility, although development and construction risks remain.
Shetland’s role in the energy economy is also changing as activity broadens beyond its historical association with oil and gas towards wind generation and electricity infrastructure.
Mossy Hill is not expected to produce power until 2030, so the agreement does not alter near-term electricity supply. It does show how large corporate energy users are becoming direct participants in financing new generation as the computing economy increases its demand for dependable power.
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