Amazon has today (Monday) unveiled more than 6,500 solar roof top installations at its fulfilment centre in Coalville.

The site, which has an operating space of more than one million sq. ft. - the equivalent of 16 football pitches - has been fitted with the panels which generate the equivalent amount of electricity required to power almost 600 homes for one year.

The company says that Solar panel projects such as these help Amazon drive towards its operations goal as part of The Climate Pledge – a commitment to be net zero carbon across our businesses by 2040.

Amazon's Coalville General Manager Tracey Foster, said: "We're investing in on-site solar installations to ensure our operations are powered by 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025 - and I'm proud that Amazon's fulfilment centre in Coalville is able to play its part in this.

"We're investing in sustainability and renewable energy projects of this kind because it's good for the environment, good for our communities, and good for business."

Inside the vast Amazon Coalville fulfilment centre

Amazon's commitment to The Climate Pledge includes 100,000 new electric delivery vehicles from US-based car manufacturer Rivian, the largest ever order of electric delivery vehicles.

These vans are starting to deliver packages to customers in 2021, and all 100,000 vehicles will be on the road by 2030 — saving millions of metric tons of carbon per year.

Since Amazon launched The Climate Pledge in 2019, the company says it has continued to invest heavily in renewable energy.

The company adds that it is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe, with 3.5GW of renewable energy projects and 12GW globally.

Amazon says it is on a path to powering its operations five years ahead of the original target of 2030.

The company Amazon claims a recent report from Oliver Wyman, commissioned by Amazon, shows that shopping online results in 50 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than physical retail, and over four times less traffic.