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Apple announces biggest-ever solar farm project in California
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MacNN Staff
Join Date: Jul 2012
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At the Goldman Sachs Technology and the Internet conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company is planning to build its "biggest, boldest, and most ambitious project" in renewable power ever -- an $850 million solar farm to be built in Monterey county, which is expected to eventually provide enough power to run all of Apple's operations -- from the new HQ to retail stores -- in the state of California.
The farm will comprise some 1,300 acres, and be built in partnership with First Solar, the Tempe, Arizona-based solar firm that originally built the facility Apple bought to create the sapphire production plant in partnership with GT Advanced. The project will produce enough power, Cook said, to offset power used by both Apple's current and future headquarters and facilities, all 52 Apple retail stores, all of its satellite offices and a data center running in Newark, California -- which Cook said was equivalent to the power needed to supply 60,000 typical homes.
Cook also took the opportunity to make a clear and unequivocal statement that "climate change is real. The time for talk about it is past, the time for action is now." He mentioned that all of the company's data centers now either use renewable energy directly or invest in offsets to nullify their energy use. Apple has invested heavily in solar, using it to partially power data centers and will build another solar farm in Arizona to power the former GT Advanced plant, which it next year begin turning into a new "global operations command center."
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Last edited by NewsPoster; Feb 10, 2015 at 06:00 PM.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: NY
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Interesting how much Apple is spending on electricity...
They say the $850mil farm is going to produce enough to supply 60,000 homes in CA.
Lets say the average bill for electric is $250 a month. That equates to $15 mil/month
So their massive $850mil investment will be paid for in about 56 months - the duration like a car payment for the rest of us. What a money making machine
That's just insane how much electric they go through but even more insane that in 5 years, electricity will be almost for free. I'm not too environmentally friendly but Just think of how much carbon emissions will be cut when they build this thing!
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Nov 2006
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For the next xx years, Apple will be the next utility supplier. Just like no one ever expected Apple will become THE smartphone maker.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Apr 2003
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I think it's great that such a big and influencial company invests heavily in renewable energy and by doing so sends a clear message to all of us. We have just this one planet, if we you want it to be around for your kids and their kids, we need to act now. Great stuff!
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