Apple is going one step further in its efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its operations and further decrease its carbon footprint. The company is paying for a new 18-megawatt photovoltaic/solar powered plant called the Fort Churchill Solar Array that will provide energy for Apple’s Northern Nevada data center located east of Reno. The solar plant will be built in Yerington in Lyon County just south of the data center that it will supply.
Renewable energy and jobs
Construction of the Fort Churchill Solar Array will be completed within eight months. Projections state that in a span of 25 years the plant will generate more than a trillion kilowatt hours of energy derived from the sun, the cleanest form of energy there is.
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval welcomes the project with optimism since it will bring new jobs to a county which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. Apple is reportedly working with SunPower to build the new high efficiency solar array.
More clean energy to the grid
The 137-acre project will provide an amount of electricity equivalent to 43.5 million kilowatt hours. The shift to solar power is roughly equivalent to the removal of 6,400 vehicles from the road annually, in effect resulting in fossil fuel savings.
The plan for the solar facility was first announced by Apple in its 2012 Environmental Footprint Report. Apple said that once the solar array is operational, it will also provide solar energy to the local power grid through a partnership with NV Energy. President and CEO of NV Energy Michael Yackira said in an official statement that this is the first project under the company’s Green Energy Program. He also added that they are excited to be partners with Apple on this undertaking.
Reducing Apple’s carbon footprint
Apple has taken its corporate social responsibility to heart. The company’s eventual goal is to power all its facilities with renewable and clean energy, and not just solar power but hydroelectric and geothermal resources as well. This commitment is strengthened with the building of another solar plant to power data centers that provide online services to clients.
To achieve this goal, Apple intends to invest not just on onsite energy production but in procuring renewable energy off the grid as well. Apple has made similar investments in the past with its data centers in Elk Grove, Austin, Munich, and Cork which are powered by 100% renewable energy. Apple’s Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino is already in the loop. On its website, Apple reports that its corporate facilities are already utilizing 75% renewable energy.
Environmentally responsible
Apple’s data center in Maiden, North Carolina is being powered by 100-acre solar energy farm that produces 20 megawatts of electricity. Apple is adding another site in Maiden which will provide another twenty million kilowatt-hours of power. 60% of the power needs of the Maiden data center are provided by the solar array and the remaining 40% is provided by local and regional sources renewable energy sources as well.
Photo Credit: An array of solar panels
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