Apple announced today an expansion of its environmental initiatives across five European countries, along with a new donation to support environmental education in China. Here are the details.
Turning East to continue the Apple 2030 initiative
In a press release published in its British newsroom blog, Apple outlined the new projects that are expected to “add 650 MW of renewable energy capacity to match the electricity European customers use to power Apple products.”
Today’s announcement builds on Apple’s goal to become 100% carbon neutral by 2030. Earlier this year, a new 131MW solar array enabled by Apple became operational in Segovia, Spain.
Now, the company says that new large-scale solar and wind farms are in development in Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, and Romania, where they’re expected to add “around 3,000 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy to the grid each year by 2030.”
From the press release:
“[T]he projects announced today — all enabled by Apple — will add 650 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to electrical grids across Europe in the coming years, unlocking more than $600 million in financing. This will generate over 1 million megawatt-hours of clean electricity on behalf of Apple users by 2030.”
The blog post also breaks down Apple’s plans for each country:
In Greece, the company has signed a long-term agreement to procure power from a 110MW solar project owned and operated by HELLENiQ ENERGY. Now fully operational, the project will support Greece’s transition to renewable energy. In Italy, Apple is supporting the development of a 129MW portfolio of solar and wind projects. The first project — a solar project in Sicily — will come online this month. In Poland — home to one of the most carbon-intensive grids on the continent — Apple has enabled Econergy’s 40MW solar array, which will be operational later this year. Apple also plans to procure power from Nala Renewables’ 99MW wind farm in Romania’s Galați County through a long-term agreement originated by OX2, which is now constructing the project. And in Latvia, Apple has signed one of the country’s first corporate power purchase agreements with European Energy. Through the long-term deal, Apple will procure electricity from one of Latvia’s largest solar farms to date, which will add 110 MW of clean power capacity to the grid once complete.
Alongside today’s news, Apple also announced a new donation program to Tsinghua University aimed at advancing environmental education in China. The company said that the “donation will be used to set up a school-wide program to help students master the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable innovation in order to play a role in their future careers.”
Here’s Apple CEO Tim Cook on the initiative:
“We are honored to go further on the basis of ten years of cooperation with Tsinghua University, and help students promote the development of environmental undertakings through academic ability cultivation and practical experience empowerment. (…) How will the new generation of young people use innovation and collaboration? The power makes the world a better place, and we are looking forward to it.”
You can learn more about the Apple 2030 initiative here.
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