Apple will invest $ 850 million in a giant "solar farm"

Apple, whose capitalization has recently grown to $ 700 billion , is set to invest 850 million in a northern California solar farm. According to company representatives, this solar power plant will generate as much electricity as Apple uses throughout the state. Investments will be provided as part of a partnership agreement with First Solar. This was stated on Tuesday by Tim Cook, head of Apple.

The station's total area was about 1300 acres, and it will be located in Monterey County - this is about an hour's journey south from Apple headquarters. As mentioned above, the new station will produce as much electricity as the company's data centers in California, its stores and offices consume. This amount of energy is enough for the needs of 15 thousand households in this state.

It is clear that Apple will not be able to get its own energy directly, and this is not the goal of the project. But investments allow the corporation to receive energy at a low, fixed price (agreed with the state authorities). It is likely that the corporation will also receive relevant certificates showing Apple's contribution to the region’s green energy and its carbon footprint.

The corporation will be able to receive part of the energy from the "solar farm" with a capacity of 130 MW for 25 years. According to representatives of First Solar, this is the largest, and so far one-of-a-kind, commercial agreement with the end user.

Investing in solar is not new to Apple. This company already manages two "solar farms", on the east coast and in Nevada. Other technology giants, including Google, are also investing in alternative energy, but the scale of work of other companies in this area is still lower than that of Apple. As a result, the price of a "green" kilowatt of electricity for a company will be approximately equal to the price of a kilowatt of energy received from burning coal. As you know, the price of electricity generated in thermal power plants is lower than the cost of energy obtained using alternative sources.