Apple has announced plans to build a new solar farm in cooperation with NV Energy Inc. to supply its new data center in Reno, NV. This is another major step toward the company’s goal of having all of its data centers run on renewable energy.
The new solar farm will provide power to Sierra Pacific Power Co’s electric grid that serves Apple’s data center and when completed will generate about hours 43.5 million kilowatt of clean energy a year, Apple said in a statement.
Apple and other technology companies such as Amazon and Google that build and run huge server farms have come under fire for their high consumption of electricity and other resources.
Apple released a statement about the project, saying:
All of Apple’s data centers use 100 percent renewable energy, and we are on track to meet that goal in our new Reno data center using the latest in high-efficiency concentrating solar panels. This project will not only supply renewable energy for our data center but also provide clean energy to the local power grid, through a first-of-its-kind partnership with NV Energy. When completed, the 137 acre solar array will generate approximately 43.5 million kilowatt hours of clean energy, equivalent to taking 6,400 passenger vehicles off the road per year.
Apple already runs its largest U.S. data center, located in Maiden, North Carolina, on solar power. The 100-acre solar farm and fuel cell installations there produce 167 million kilowatt hours, enough to supply power to 17,600 for one year.
