According to a report in The Oregonian, Apple has purchased a small hydroelectric project. The initial proposals for this project will result in a system capable of generating between three and five megawatts. Whilst that amount could power a small town, it won’t nearly cover the huge amount of power that the Oregon datacentre will require.
The report didn’t mention the amount spent by Apple to acquire the project. However the previous owner (EBD Hydro) was able to secure roughly $8 million in the form of federal loans and grants to build it.
Apple has been building several major data centers in the past few years, mostly down to iCloud and the huge amount of user storage required. The company is also trying to maintain its status as an environmentally friendly company, which has resulted in a lot of investment in green energy projects.
Currently the Oregon data center uses wind energy, as does Apple’s Californian data center. Meanwhile the data center in North Carolina has the largest private solar farm in the U.S. to power it and the Nevada center will use solar and geothermal energy.
