The two technology giants have announced new major wind and solar power initiatives in the last 24 hours.
Google announced the signing of a long-term agreement to purchase wind energy to offset the electrical consumption of its North Bayshore headquarters.
The power purchase agreement involves the Altamont Pass Wind Farm. One of the earliest wind farms in the United States, the facility is currently being upgraded; with many of the smaller wind turbines being replaced with larger, quieter and more bird-friendly units.
“Once the installation is complete, and the 370 legacy turbines are replaced, it will take just 24 new ones to generate as much power as our campus uses in a year,” said David Radcliffe, VP, Real Estate and Workplace Services at Google.
While Google has made significant inroads in terms of clean power purchase agreements for its data centers, this agreement is the first of its kind in relation to its offices.
Google also recently announced it had partnered with Norwegian power company Scatec Solar to construct the largest solar farm in Utah.
Apple also created a major stir yesterday when it announced it was committing USD $848 million for electricity from the upcoming California Flats Solar Project in Monterey County, California. Apple’s slice of the facility will be 130 MW capacity and it will receive electricity under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Apple has set a goal of powering all its corporate offices, retail stores and data centres entirely by renewable energy. By the end of 2013, it had already switched 86 per cent of its corporate campuses and 100 per cent of its data centres to renewables and last year more than 120 US retail stores were powered by renewable energy.
Construction of the California Flats Solar Project starts in the middle of this year and is expected be completed by the end of 2016. Apple’s share of the output will be enough to power Apple’s new California campus, all its offices and the 52 stores it has in the state, plus its data center in Newark.
Commenting on the latest initiative, Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly said the company entered into the agreement “because it’s right to do.”
