Apple has announced the completion of a major solar project and its intentions to have more constructed.
Apple stated construction on 40 megawatts of solar PV in the Sichuan Province of China is now complete and will produce up to 80 million kilowatt-hours per year of clean energy. This is more than the total amount of electricity consumed by Apple’s China offices and retail stores; making the company’s operations in the country carbon-neutral.
Apple also announced plans to build more than 200 megawatts of solar projects in the northern, eastern and southern grid regions of China; which will begin to offset the energy used in Apple’s supply chain.
The company will also be driving its manufacturing partners to go solar; aiming for installations of more than 2 gigawatts of new clean energy in the years ahead.
One of the manufacturing partners in the initiative is Foxconn, which will construct 400 megawatts of solar by 2018. Foxconn has pledged to generate as much clean electricity as its Zhengzhou factory uses in the final production of iPhone.
“Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The transition to a new green economy requires innovation, ambition and purpose. We believe passionately in leaving the world better than we found it and hope that many other suppliers, partners and other companies join us in this important effort.”
In addition to its efforts in China, Apple says 100 percent of its operations the USA and 100 percent of its data centers are powered by renewable energy, and more than 87 percent of its worldwide operations.
More than 80 percent of electricity used in Apple’s co-located data facilities is matched with renewable energy generated within the same state in the case of the USA, or within the same country for those elsewhere.
Next year will see the completion of Apple’s 130MW solar project in Monterey County, California. The solar farm will generate enough electricity to power Apple Campus 2, all its other California offices, all 52 retail stores in the state and its data center in Newark.
