Apple planning solar farm to power its North Carolina data center

When Steve Jobs introduced Apple’s new iCloud-powering data center at WWDC earlier this year, he touted the company’s commitment to the environment, saying “It’s as eco-friendly as you can make a modern data center, and we’re pretty proud of it.” Even still, the center has been heavily criticised by Greenpeace over the decision to site the new server farm in part of North Carolina with very little access to green power and a high dependency on coal.

Apple’s taking some steps to close the gap, though — it’s building a new 171-acre solar farm on a site across the street. Building plans haven’t been submitted yet, so we don’t know any details, but the initial groundwork has been approved. This will bring the new center closer in line with Apple’s facilities in Austin, Sacramento, and Cork, Ireland, which are powered by 100 percent renewable energy.